Millennium
by Shivakashi
Summary: Sequel to Demon Hunter. Inuyasha Xover. Y2K was what they called it. The new millennium. Everyone thought something would happen...something terrible, something great...And then it passed, nothing. Feh, yeah, maybe to the humans. IYK maybe HOC
1. New Years

**A/N: I don't own Inuyasha or Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't NEED to go to college.**

**And I suggest you read Demon Hunter before you read this if you haven't yet. Things might get confusing otherwise.**

**Chapter 1**

Four, powerful, black legs raced through the snow covered fields of Scotland, reaching speeds that would rival a firebolt at its fastest. The beast took a powerful leap clear over a small river as piercing green eyes scanned the area for any danger and two tails ringed with silver floated behind it delicately. A thin, silver lighting bolt scar could be visible on the forehead among the thick black fur.

"Weee! Faster Harry, Faster!" squealed a slender girl with long, curly black hair pulled into a high ponytail. She was perched on the back of the fire cat, holding his powerful sides fast between her thighs and gripping the ebony hair of his mane. She loved the rides she could get out of the love of her life. Just a few cute pouts and some eye lash fluttering and she could get just about anything from him. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that the animagus had eventually slowed to a stop until the body underneath her transformed into a much smaller, humanoid one.

"Harry!" she screamed as she suddenly found herself piggybacking the laughing nineteen year old, "Don't do that you jerk!"

She began repeatedly whacking him on the head with her free hand as her other arm wrapped around his neck.

"Ack! Bridget! You're killing me!" Harry choked trying to get her off him, "I'm sorry I was tired and I promised your dad I'd have you home before dinner!"

He threw himself forward in a last ditch effort that resulted in Bridget flipping over his head and falling into his arms.

"Why are you such a pain in the ass?" he asked as she giggled cutely, "I should just leave your ass here."

Bridget extracted herself from Harry's arms and turned to face him, smiling, "Don't act all bad ass with me just because my father somehow managed to convince the PTB to let you take over the guardianship of the damn gate. At least I plan on finishing my magical education unlike SOME people I know. Then I can whip you."

Harry let out a playful growl, quite used to the friendly banter the two of them shared.

"Hey, I'm 'dead' remember? It's not like I can waltz back into school anytime I fell like it. And what the hell are you talking about? You haven't even started school yet. You've got one more year left, kiddo."

Bridget scowled, "Don't call me kiddo. You'll be calling me your bitch in a few years."

"Yeah," Harry snorted, "once you hit puberty? Don't talk to me like that; you make me sound like a pedophile."

"You can't cheat fate, Harry. Dad is hundreds of years older than the women he dates."

"Key word being women," Harry replied.

"I'm plenty woman," Bridget declared while sticking out her flat chest, "Just check out these babies."

Harry snorted, "Yeah, come on, we've got to get back for dinner."

Bridget held onto Harry's arm as they disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

"What took you so long?" Alaina asked as she saw her sister and her former crush appear in her uncle's kitchen. She had been preparing drinks for the adults, "You were going to miss the New Years Eve party."

Every year their uncle Sesshomaru who lived in Japan would host a little get together of friends and family on new years. This year wasn't any different.

"Why would that matter? It's not like dad will let me have any alcohol anyway," Bridget groused, "Unless..."

Harry caught the look she was giving him.

"Oh no," he said backing away, "Don't even ask. Your dad would catch me; he always does!"

But Bridget ignored his pleas, opting to give him the most adorable amber puppy eyes imaginable.

"Not the eyes...no...must...resist..." Harry ground out, turning his face away from her.

"Please? Pleasy, pleasy, pleasy?"

"Pleasy what?" Inuyasha asked, stepping into the kitchen. Harry could never figure out why Inuyasha seemed to have such a problem when Alaina was attracted to him, but when Bridget was all over him he didn't seem to care.

"Your small child just wants to get into that twenty-year-old's pants again," Kouga answered, walking up right behind him.

"I'm nineteen, not twenty," Harry told the wolf demon, who shrugged.

"Yeah," Bridget agreed, "and if I had any desire to be in Harry's pants at this time I'd be there."

Inuyasha looked at Harry with raised eyebrows.

"No she wouldn't!" Harry said quickly.

"I would too!" Bridget exclaimed

"No, you wouldn't," Harry bit out, avoiding eye contact with her father.

"Just get over yourself and admit it already. You want my hot bod."

"What bod? You come up to my elbows!"

"How dare you! I come up to your pectorals!"

A red headed woman with jade eyes and pointed ears stepped into the kitchen next and promptly smacked Kouga upside the head, "See what you've started?"

"Ouch! Ayame," her mate whined pathetically, "I didn't do anything!"

"Cry about it, why don't you?" Shippo laughed, walking in from another room. Like everyone else in the house, he was in his natural demon form, keeping his short, wavy auburn hair and aqua colored eyes. He was much shorter than the rest of the men reaching only 5'9'', which apparently was natural for kitsune demons.

Shortly following him was a woman a few inches under than him with black hair slicked back into a tight bun and bright, crimson eyes.

"How about I give _you_ something to cry about," she growled at Shippo while baring her fangs, "You always have some smart ass comment for everything, don't you?"

"Come on Souten, I was just joking. He knows that," he said nervously while backing away from his mate.

"And _that_ Harry is why I'm not married," Inuyasha concluded as they observed the bickering couples. Harry nodded solemnly in understanding.

"You are not married because no woman feels the need to be subjected to your uncouth attitude and appalling lack of manners until her untimely death. Do not even get me started on why you cannot get a mate," a cold and superior voice drawled.

Harry turned to see Inuyasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru, who was hosting the little get together for the turn of the century. Sesshomaru was around the same height as Inuyasha with long, strait, silver locks pulled into a low pony tail and was never was seen without a tailor-made suit. The two brothers were about as opposite as night and day when it came to personalities; Sesshomaru being the refined and classy one and Inuyasha taking the part as the rugged, outspoken brother. Though they slightly resembled each other in hair and eye color, Sesshomaru's features were more aristocratic than Inuyasha's, with his smooth, pointed face, slimmer eyebrows, sharper nose, thinner lips, and demonic nobility markings.

"I heart you too Fluffy," Inuyasha said languidly. Harry snorted into his drink. He couldn't picture anyone other than Inuyasha saying something like that to this guy.

"Your grammar is atrocious," was the indifferent reply, "Don't speak to me."

"Come on, Fluffernutter, you love me. You do." Inuyasha said, poking his brother repeatedly in the stomach. The demon simply raised a delicate eyebrow.

"If it weren't for the fact that you are clinically insane, I would kill you," Sesshomaru stated, stepping away from the offending finger.

"Alaina darling, would you be a dear and get your uncle a drink?" Rin asked, walking up to her mate and putting a calming hand on his forearm. There was no one on the face of the earth who could get the Inuyoukai worked up like his own brother. Rin had grown into an extraordinary woman over time, both strong and beautiful, with long, silken black hair and warm, chocolate eyes. The perfect mate for the former Lord of the Western lands and no one could tell him any different.

"Way ahead of you," Alaina said, handing over a scotch. Harry laughed at the family's antics. His family's antics.

The next couple hours were filled with laughter, stories and drinks. Harry got to see a lot of Inuyasha's kids who were grown and had their own lives. Most of them inherited their father's amber eyes but only a few actually got the silver hair and even fewer with the dog ears. Apparently those were recessive genes.

The countdown was about to start in another minute and everyone was situated in the grandiose living room to watch the ball drop in New York on the television.

"So, who are you going to kiss?" Harry asked Inuyasha slyly seeing that every female there was either related to him or mated.

"You of course!" Inuyasha replied enthusiastically and reached out to grab him, "Let's practice."

"Get away from me," Harry laughed dodging away from the hanyou's arms, "I'm going to kiss one of you're daughters!"

"Not if you're busy sucking face with me."

"Eww, no, you like dead chicks, not live, little boys."

"Yeah, right, you're almost as tall as me..."

The laughter suddenly died on Inuyasha's face to be replaced with a look of deep concern.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, thinking it was something he said. But before Inuyasha could answer, he felt it as well. There was a sharp tug somewhere around his stomach and something in the back of his mind was telling him something as terribly wrong.

"What is that?" he whispered, so not to attract any attention from the partiers. Inuyasha blinked a few times before meeting Harry's eyes.

"There's something wrong with your gate if you're feeling what I'm feeling."

"Yeah, I think your right. But how do I know what you're feeling?"

"You just know, ok?"

"Um...ok," Harry said, but the tugging got harder and dread began to fill his body. It felt like his whole ribcage was starting to shake and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "What do I do?"

"We've got to go check out our gates. We should probably be back before anyone notices and then I can get my kiss."

"Ugh, I think I'll take my time," Harry said before dissolving into an inconspicuous wisp of smoke. Inuyasha forced a small smile before disappearing as well.

0o0o0o

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0o0o0o

There's the sequel to Demon Hunter. YAAAAAY!

Nothing really happened in this chappy, it was mostly to let you know what was going on in life.

And just to clear a few things up:

— This is three years after the big battle.

--Harry studied and learned to become an animagus, and Inuyasha managed to bitch the PTB into letting him take over the ninth gate of hell.

--Inuyasha and Morgana didn't last. She's still teaching at Hogwarts.

--Harry lives with Inuyasha for now, he's practically family.

--Inuyasha is as tall as fluffy because he's all growed up now, kapiesh? And fluffy plays better with others, much to the work of Rin.

--There IS a reason this is calls Millennium.

--Yes, there will be Kagome, be patient.

--Inuyasha was just joking about kissing Harry...unless you want him to.


	2. Fallen

**Chapter 2**

Harry stood in front of the impressive, twin doors that led to the netherworld. The great stone hall was eerily silent as usual, but the intense feeling of wrongness in his chest only added to the threatening atmosphere. Harry had grown quite used to the ominous, chilling air that surrounded each gate to hell (Inuyasha had taken him around the world to visit a few others) and he even started to find comfort in it. But right now he sensed that there was something threatening his gate—and he didn't like it.

A sudden tremble ran down his spine, followed by another and another. He looked down at his watch and scowled. There were only forty seconds to go until the New Year and he was going to miss it. As the strange shudders continued he realized that each shock seemed in sync with a second.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered, glaring at his watch. Thirty seconds left.

The doors suddenly pulsed with a dark energy and Harry's head shot up.

'_What was that?' _he thought, frowning.

_Twenty eight_

Harry approached the doors slowly, noticing the pulsing energy also beat off at each second.

_Twenty two_

Standing only a few feet away from the gate made the threatening feeling even stronger, almost sending Harry into a panic.

_Seventeen_

His whole chest was shaking now. There was nothing he could do to calm himself.

_Fifteen_

A loud crack bounded off the flinty walls. Harry stared strait up to find a large fracture appeared near the top of the left door.

_Thirteen_

The crack spread, moving forth down the chiseled stone, destroying the crafted art that had been there for centuries, raining gravel on the bare ground.

_Eight_

Harry took a couple of steps closer. The gate was calling out to him through the bond of a guardian. It was in pain.

_Seven_

Inuyasha wasn't really going to kiss him was he?

_Five_

Wind started to pick up, blowing through the cracks of the gate, the sickening air washed over his face. His heart pounded faster.

_Four_

This was wrong. This was so wrong.

_Three_

Harry placed a hand on the pulsing gate and everything fell jarringly still.

_Two_

_One_

0o0o0o0o

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0o0o0o0o

"Hey," Alaina said looking around her, ignoring the screams that went with the New Year, "Where's dad? And where's Harry?"

A young demon looking around twenty with spiked red hair and cobalt blue eyes walked up next to her.

"I don't know, but I think I need my midnight kiss," he said in a deep, suave voice. Before she could respond to that he mashed his lips against hers.

"Cole!" She cried out, pushing him away from her and wiping her mouth. She made a swipe at him but the wolf demon just ducked and laughed, running back into the crowd with his slender brown tail swishing behind him. Scowling, she continued her search for her missing father and his tyro.

"Hey Rin, does the internet still work?" Kouga asked. The woman was already on a laptop checking to see if certain rumors regarding the new millennium were true.

"Yes. Everything's up and running."

"Aw, that sucks," Shippo complained, "I wanted to see some damage."

"I'll give you some tonight," Souten said dryly.

"Ooo," Shippo said, perking his ears up.

"Where the hell is my dad?" Alaina said slightly louder. This managed to draw a few more people's attention.

"I had not realized he had left," Sesshomaru said in his usual dispassionate tone. But he too was looking around himself for his brother with barely concealed interest.

"Maybe Inuyasha's giving Harry that kiss somewhere a little more private?" Kouga suggested with a grin. Shippo laughed loudly at that and Ayame's lip twitched in a smirk.

"Shut up, that's not funny," Bridget said, clearly disturbed.

"Who cares? They'll turn up," Shippo said, downing the rest of his scotch, "I'm getting another drink."

"Me too," a number of the legal adults chorused, heading into the kitchen.

"Grown ups," Bridget muttered before stalking up the stairs to make sure Kouga's suggestion wasn't true.

0o0o0o0o

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0o0o0o0o

The second his watch beeped 12:00 an explosion of sorts occurred. Harry was blown a good hundred feet from the doors as a pure, white light filled the hall, blinding him and chasing away every shadow that lurked within the underground hall. Just as suddenly as it happened, the light disappeared.

Harry moaned, rubbing his sore eyes with the back of his hand, trying to be rid of the black spots dancing in his vision. He blinked his eyes a few times and sat up, looking around him. Rubble was everywhere, the remains of what he would guess was the ninth entrance to hell because right in front of him was a large, black hole where the doors used to hang.

But something else was missing...like he had lost a part of himself. Harry placed a hand on his chest where the feeling of wrongness had been, realizing it was replaced by emptiness.

An involuntary gasp escaped him as a new horror dawned.

It wasn't just the doors that were gone...the whole gate had fallen.

The fucking gate of Hell had fallen.

0o0o0o

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0o0o0o

I know it's kind of short but I need to get something out in Road to Remembrance in order for certain events to transpire in this one.

Oh, and Cole is Kouga and Ayame's son, nothing major to do with this story.

Thanks for the reviews, by the way, there were so many of them! I keep doing this insane happy dance every time I look at my computer.


	3. Casualty

**Chapter 3**

A foul air of demonic scents blew through the opening; Harry coughed...he knew what was coming. It took a matter of three seconds afterwards before the demons rushed through the darkness of the broken gate; hundreds and hundreds of them, every shape and size, poured out of hell, intent on killing anything that stood between them and the sweet, succulent taste of human flesh.

Harry scrambled to his feet and fumbled for his cell phone. Before he was able to push the speed dial for Inuyasha a demon had already flown ahead of the charging mass, shooting out at an unimaginable speed, right into Harry. The phone flew out of his reach, landing some twenty feet away. Growling, Harry took its head off with one swipe of his claws. He had almost no time to react as the mass of demons rained down upon him.

"Fuck!"

Harry immediately began jumping and kicking and twisting and slicing—anything to stop the onslaught. It wasn't long before he had enough nicks and scratches on himself to sufficiently use some blood magic.

"_Everbero_!" He cried out, throwing both reddened palms forward. A sonic, ruby-tinged blast sent all the demons within ten feet of him flying backwards, slamming them hard into the walls. It hardly left a dent in the assault.

"_Laedo! Attero! Blades of Blood!_" Whips of blood sliced through demons, flames from his fingertips incinerated dozens, crimson blades tore through the mass; his hands were moving so fast they were a blur, but still they came. Slowly, Harry was being pushed backwards.

It was the most Harry could manage to keep them at bay. Human blood was all good and fine for ridding large amounts of demons at once, but demon blood was far too tainted and diverse. The results could often be disastrous. The most he could do was minor spells such as slicing, whipping or burning while using the demon blood as well as his own sparingly.

Using his claws to puncture his wrists, he raised the blood with fast motions into a complex design in the air in front of him.

"_Incorruptus!"_

A white, purifying light washed over the entirety of the gate chamber. The screams of the demons reached a pitch high enough to shatter glass. When the light faded, all that was left was a pile of ashes and the foul stench of decay. Already, Harry could see the faint outline of the second group of demons rushing towards him through the rubble.

But the spell had bought him some time. Harry jumped over to his fallen cell—which had been miraculously unharmed. The moment he pressed the speed dial the demons were upon him once more.

"Inuyasha, I need some help here!" Harry managed to scream into the receiver over the riot of the demons. He almost dropped his phone as he dodged a pair of poisoned claws. He emptied a round of bullets into the mass, causing a few bodies to drop to the floor.

"Look kid..." he heard the hanyou say in a ragged breath. It sounded as if Inuyasha was as tied up as he was, "Can't help you now...same problem here...All the gates are down...We gotta do this on our own. Just use your potions and try to—ow! Damn it!—try to erect a barrier on the gate as best you can—"

There was a loud bang and some roaring and the line went dead. Harry didn't have time to think on it because a spiked tail whipped down in his arm, breaking his ulna. He cried out, grabbed the tail with his good arm, and swung the dinosaur-like demon into the crowd.

0o0o0o0o0o

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0o0o0o0o0o

"See! I told you we'd be fine!" Alaina told her sister smugly as the two of them walked up the pathway to their home the next morning.

"Yeah right—I think I'm missing a toe. I am _so_ telling dad on you," Bridget grumbled, getting the key under the doormat and letting herself in.

Alaina toed off her shoes, glaring at her sister, "Shut up. You're not splinched and I'm great at apparating. And dad should be thanking me for taking you home; you know how uncle Sess gets when people outstay their welcome. Where the hell is he anyway? You don't think he actually went out and got laid or something did you? He wouldn't have left without telling us. And by now he would have at least _called_ or something! I have a feeling something is really wrong."

Bridget cracked her neck and grimaced.

"Something is very wrong. If both dad and Harry disappear for long periods of time...well...something has to be wrong."

Alaina gave Bridget a dry look.

"Thank you for your input."

"You're welcome," Bridget said haughtily, pushing past her sister and marching up to her room. Alaina watched her leave and bit her lip worriedly. Something _was_ wrong.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Day three and Harry still found himself struggling to hold back the demons that continued to spill forth. The piles of bodies had grown high, many already starting to decay, and the current of opponents had lessoned somewhat. Despite this, Harry had grown weary from blood loss and fatigue. His moves were becoming sluggish and he was hard pressed to catch his breath. The only thing keeping him standing was the energizing potion and the blood replenishing potions that he had kept on him at all times under Inuyasha's advice. But even those were running out fast.

Over the last forty eight hours the guardian had managed to slowly erect a weak barrier, which was most likely the cause of the decline of demons escaping through. The barrier was somewhat like a loose net of blood that had diminished the flow of demons to almost a trickle of what it used to be; but it still wasn't enough to stop them.

A branch-like tentacle shot out from the moving mass and, with Harry being far too exhausted to move in time, pierced through him, pinning him against the wall. Harry leaned forwards over the branch and gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth. He let his eyes slip shut as the pain took over. He no longer had any adrenaline left in his body to block it off.

This was it, he simply couldn't fight anymore. A part of his mind shouted at him for giving up, urging him to fight until he had no more strength left.

But he didn't _have_ any strength left. As much as he tried to move his body, it just wouldn't respond. Harry managed to shift his weight a bit but it only served to spread the hole in his stomach. The demi-demon moaned, dropping his head back onto the wooden appendage.

He couldn't die yet...Inuyasha would be disappointed...Bridget would be sad...

Harry managed to crane his neck so he could see what was happening. The hall was once again filled with demons; demons that were closing in on him, probably ready to get a taste of his flesh before they made it to the earth's surface.

Harry felt anger flare up inside of him at the thought of that. All that work fighting—and for what? To be struck down by some dumb ass plant-like demon? Hell no. He felt his magic respond to his anger. Not his blood magic...his _magic_.

Gritting his teeth, Harry let out an animalistic yell and clutched both sides of the appendage that had him impaled into the wall. Electricity flew through his hands, shooting up the branch and into the demon...then into any demon that demon was in contact with. Every breathing creature with the exception of Harry screamed in agony as they were charred from the inside out. Twenty four seconds of bright lights, screams and blood passed and all that was left was hundreds of steaming piles of charred flesh.

Finally freed and barely taking time to breath, Harry spit a mouthful of blood into his hands and staggered forward, thrusting his hands outward to quickly finish the barrier that was started. He could see the next bit of demons emerge from the darkness and he worked with more fervor. The demons didn't slow down, determined to escape their hellish confinement. They reached the ruin of the gate a second too late. With a loud _ping_ the reddish barrier shimmered and they were sent back into the abyss, hissing and screaming.

Harry sighed relieved and fell to his knees, leaning over and holding his bleeding stomach. His shoulders sagged and he took deep gulps of breaths.

It was over.

He let a goofy smile grace his lips. It took all of his strengths not to pass out. He had managed to fit a loose netting of blood to hold back the demons, but it would only buy him a few minutes at the most.

When Harry finally caught his breath, he pushed himself to his feet and downed the rest of his blood replenishing potion. He then spent the next thirty minutes re-erecting the true barrier as well as patching his bond with the gate before promptly passing out.

0o0o0o

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0o0o0o

Inuyasha sat down and leaned against the icy cave wall of the Alaskan den he had spent the last few days in fighting to salvage his gate. The gate itself could be fixed, and he still maintained the bond, however weak it was at the moment. But how had Harry fared?

Inuyasha groaned as he pushed himself back to his feet and began slowly moving through the piles of bodies, his own body protesting under the movement. Inuyasha was about three yards from the exit when a blast went off strait through the weakened gate, shattering his temporary barrier and sending him strait into a frosted column. Giant icicles fell, shattering on the ground around him—one missing his left leg by inches.

Inuyasha gasped from the sudden impact and lifted a hand to hold the back of his head, which had hit the ice harder than he would have liked. The smoke from the blast began to settle and he could make out a shady figure stalking towards him. No wait...there were two...

Inuyasha growled and began struggling to lift his damaged body. He let out a soft whine as the scar on his back seared with pain. Knowing that could only mean one thing, Inuyasha doubled his efforts. He had hardly managed a crouch when the first form moved its arm and whispered something. A red light cut through the dense smoke and suddenly there were searing knifes stabbing him everywhere, in and out of his body repeatedly, turning his insides to fire. He didn't remember crying out or falling face first onto the ground; he just remembered the pain that seemed to last forever. A pain he was quite familiar with.

It ended after a few seconds, leaving Inuyasha panting on the ground, blood spattering out of his mouth with each heave of air. Shaky arms slowly pushed him back into a sitting position, ready to meet his next opponent.

The first figure approached out of the thinning smoke and Inuyasha found himself looking into the red slitted eyes of Lord Voldemort.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Potter's mentor," Voldemort purred looking ever so pleased with himself. Inuyasha simply met his gaze, showing no emotion, "I believe you've met my associate..." Voldemort continued. He turned and gestured to the figure behind him, who had stepped forward into the hazy light.

Naraku had presented himself—still adorned in that bulky baboon pelt with his long, wavy black hair held high in a pony tail. The man grinned, his crimson eyes glittering maliciously as he drank in his sworn enemy's state.

"Inuyasha," he said softly as if testing the name on his lips once more. "How I have waited for this moment. Now tell me, where is that delightful book of yours?"

Inuyasha continued to give them the same, emotionless stare. Voldemort raised his wand, no doubt ready to give Inuyasha another dose of the crutatious curse. Naraku stopped him by holding up his hand.

"It is pointless to torture him. He will not submit to pain. I have all the information I need anyway."

Voldemort stared at him for a while, clearly unhappy about missing out on torturing someone, but let it go.

"Very well. Then we have no use for him."

He raised his wand, a manic glint spreading into his eyes.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, a knowing, peaceful but sad smile played on his lips. He heard Voldemort draw in a breath in the pretense of a spell and his fist involuntarily tightened around the scrap paper in his hand.

"Avada Kedavra."

The ill-omened green light hurled through the air, hitting him square in the chest.

And the former prince of the western lands knew no more.

0o0o0o0o

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0o0o0o0o

Looks around, turns tail, and runs for life

It...had to be done... GAHHH! I'm SORRY!

Anyone who's read the last chapter in Road to Remembrance might have picked up on the foreshadowing. And the reason I'm getting these out so fast is because I haven't been doing my homework. Ha slaps self repeatedly

-Oh, and the ulna is a bone in your forearm, for those of you who haven't taken anatomy.

-And for those who are wondering, Bridget is ten. She is about 9 years younger than Harry but they are _not_ in a relationship—she would just like to think so.

-Bridget and Alaina are witches—in fact a lot of Inuyasha's children are if the mother was human because he himself is a wizard—he just can't do magic because of his demon blood.


	4. Crisis

**Chapter 4**

"You haven't heard from him? Not at all? Well he's been gone for four days..." Alaina listen as Kouga said he'd be on the look out for Inuyasha or Harry and inform her immediately should he see them.

"Well, alright. Thanks again Kouga."

Alaina hung up the phone with a sigh. Her father and Harry had disappeared four days ago and no one seemed to know where they were. She had called her uncle's house and everyone who had been at the New Year's party but there was still no sign of him. Her father did not just take off on them like that unless there was a really important reason.

Bridget groaned and leaned against the window out-looking the street. She missed her father and she most certainly missed Harry. Oh, what she wouldn't give to see one of them walking up the street right now—in fact, it almost looked like her father was walking up their driveway right now. She squinted against the glare of the sun at the figure. There was indeed someone walking up the walkway with wavy raven hair, just like her father's human form...

"Dad?" Bridget whispered. She scrambled out of her chair and to the front door, wrenching it open to have a better look.

"DAD!" She exclaimed, running out of the house in her socks to greet her father. He ignored her, and wrenched his arm away from her when she tried to hug him.

"Daddy?" she whispered. She didn't understand; he _always_ hugged her when he came home, even if he was just gone for a couple hours. The man just stalked by her, into the house. Something evil reeked off him.

"Bridget did you just..." Alaina trailed off in shock as she stood in the open doorway, her father walking up the front steps like nothing was wrong.

"Dad—!" she started but stopped quickly as she caught a whiff of him. Something smelled wrong about him. He didn't smell like her father. The comforting October musk was replaced by something more foul...something much more demonic.

"Gates of hell broke down," he said shortly, avoiding eye contact with her, "Where's the book?"

"Where's Harry?" Alaina asked, worried. What was wrong with her father?

"He's still fighting, now I need the book," it appeared his patience was wearing thin.

"Well you usually keep it in your closet—" Alaina started but her father breezed by her and up the stairs.

"What the hell is his problem?" Bridget asked, walked back into the house.

"Something is going down," Alaina muttered as she heard banging and clattering coming from her father's bedroom "Since when did he not know where the book was? And why did he smell so weird?"

Bridget shook her head, "Maybe he's just had a stressful day...or few days for that matter."

"Yeah...maybe..." Alaina mumbled, not believing that for a second.

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* * *

0o0o0o

"Inuyasha?" Harry called out, his voice echoing off the crystal cavern walls. He grimaced as he tiptoed through the bodies rather slowly due to his wounds. He had no idea how long he had been passed out, his youkai blood slowly healing the worst of his injuries. The second he woke up he shadow-walked to the Alaskan cave where the seventh gate of hell resided, planning on helping Inuyasha finish whatever was left, if there was any, and going back to his house to get some medical attention.

He sniffed a little, hoping to pin point his friend but all he could get was demonic blood and the tiniest scrap of human blood. Wait...that had to be Inuyasha! Harry began sniffing twice as hard, following the faint smell. He ended up making his way to the other side of the cave.

"Inuyasha!" Harry cried out upon seeing the man slumped against the wall. He jumped the next forty feet so he was directly in front of the slouched figure.

"Inuyasha are you..." Harry stopped talking and listened. He couldn't hear any breathing...or a heartbeat...

The foul smell of death emanated from the body and Harry leaned away shaking his head.

"Inuyasha," Harry whispered, his voice breaking with dread. He couldn't be...he was _Inuyasha_...

Harry shook Inuyasha's shoulders a bit, but the body didn't give any sign of life.

"No..." Harry breathed. He frantically checked the body for any injuries that could have caused his death but there were none. Every wound Inuyasha received was minor. Well, to demon standards anyway.

"No, no, please, Inuyasha," Harry moaned, checking for his pulse in vain. He didn't know what to do anymore. How could Inuyasha be dead? He was at least three times as strong as Harry and they were both under the same situation. Where would he go now? Where would the girls go?

"God, you fucking idiot. Why did you die!" He growled as unshed tears filled his eyes. He slumped against the wall next to the body, defeated.

"Why did you die?" he repeated softer, covering his face in his hands. A large part of him still believed the half demon to be alive. Like the whole situation was just a bad dream that he would wake up from and tomorrow he and Inuyasha would be fighting over who ate the last package of ramen. Harry sniffed, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. He would not cry—he had to figure things out.

He sniffed again, paused, and growled. He stood up faster than his injuries would allow him too, tearing the light clot in his stomach. He ignored the pain and began sniffing fast around the area, getting on all fours and dipping his head low to the ground.

Voldemort had been there.

Harry gasped and looked at the Inuyasha as he drew a horrifying conclusion. He leaned over and placed his hands on the cold, bloodied chest. There was a stale pulse of dark magic. He had been hit by the killing curse.

Voldemort escaped hell...and killed his best friend...

Harry's breath quickened as anger clouded his senses. It was then he picked up another scent...one he most certainly remembered.

"Naraku," the name breathed past his lips. Harry fell backwards on his butt as be pieced everything together.

Voldemort and Naraku both took advantage of the fallen gate and escaped. They killed Inuyasha and left. But where did they go?

Harry thought back, trying to remember if Voldemort had ever left any hints as to what he and Naraku would team up for.

It took all but two seconds to realize it.

The book.

Harry scrambled to his feet and shadow-walked to Inuyasha's house, hoping against hope that the girls were okay and the book was out of the hands of evil. Voldemort may have some trouble using the book but Naraku was a half-demon as well as a shape shifter.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

"Alaina, Bridget!" Harry shouted as he appeared in the kitchen. If anything had happened to them...

"What?"

Harry turned around to see both sisters behind him.

"You're alright?" Harry asked in a breath of relief.

"Of course. But you're not!" Bridget exclaimed taking in Harry's bloody and ragged appearance. She and Alaina rushed forwards and immediately began fussing over him.

"Oh my God, your stomach," Alaina gasped, pulling his arm away from it, "Bridget go get some disinfectant and some bandages from the bathroom."

Bridget nodded and ran upstairs.

"Dad said something about the gates falling down. Were you fighting demon's the whole—"

"You're dad?" Harry interrupted sharply pulling away from her after she peeled off his shirt.

"Yeah, he just stopped by recently to bring you the book I think," she said casually as if nothing was wrong.

"What?" Harry asked slowly, praying he heard wrong. If they had the book...

"Is there something wrong?" Alaina asked, "I mean, he did smell funny and all but I assumed it was because of all the demons he was fighting..."

Harry shook his head and his eyes filled with such sadness that Alaina knew before he spoke something terrible had happened.

"Alaina, that wasn't your father..." Harry said softly, "It couldn't have been."

"What do you mean," Alaina asked carefully, not noticing her sister standing in the doorway with her arms full of medical supplies.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat before answering.

"You dad...he...he didn't make it."

A loud clatter alerted them both of Bridget's presence as she dropped her armload.

"What are you talking about?" she asked in a frightened voice. Harry took a deep breath, extremely uneasy under the two girl's intense gazes.

"At the turn of the millennium all the gates of hell fell. And every guardian had to fend for themselves fighting off the demons. Both Naraku and Voldemort escaped out of your dad's gate. Voldemort killed him with the killing curse."

"No," Alaina whispered, falling back against the counter. Bridget wasn't nearly as subdued and burst into tears immediately.

"That can't be right!" She cried, "You're lying! I just saw him! He can't be dead!"

"He is dead," Harry said strongly, holding both her arms to keep her from hitting him, which she seemed dangerously close to doing, "That wasn't your dad that was Naraku! You're lucky to be alive."

He looked back to Alaina who was trembling with silent tears spilling down her cheeks.

"He's too important," she said quietly in a shaky voice, "They wouldn't let him die. He's too important. Not just to us but to the PTB!"

Her voice had steadily risen as the reality of the news crashed down on her.

"WHY? Why didn't THEY do anything?" Alaina cried hysterical. Harry closed his eyes, rubbing Bridget's back as she sobbed into his bloody chest.

"The PTB? They can't do anything to directly interfere with the affairs of earth. They only foresee things and regulate destiny."

"Where is he?" Alaina asked, calming down once more. She was still shaking, however.

"He's...Shit!" Harry exclaimed in realization.

"What?" she asked, frightened that his tone meant more bad news. Harry shook his head. Inuyasha was dead—there was no guardian to the seventh gate. And when there's no guardian, demons can manage to escape—especially where the base gate resides. And he left the body there.

"I'll be back," Harry said shortly, disappearing in a swirl of light smoke. Alaina hiccupped a small sob and bent down, brushing away some of her sister's tears with the pad of her thumb.

"Everything will be fine sweety; I'm going to make a few calls. You just have to be strong alright? We'll get through this, alright Hun?"

Bridget nodded tearfully before breaking down once more and running into her sister's arms. Alaina rubbed her back with one hand and held the phone to her ear with the other.

"Hello, mom?" she said in a shaky voice, "I need your help..."

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

I'm no good with drama, sorry.

-um, October is my most favorite smell in the world, so that is what Inuyasha shall smell like! ...even if he's dead.

Next we'll probably see some of the wizarding world again, but Harry won't make his grand appearance yet.


	5. The Beast

**Chapter 5**

A scaly, lizard-like demon sniffed around the arctic and blood-spattered cavern it recently came across. It didn't exactly remember how it got there, nor did it care. All it wanted was some fresh meat to feast upon. It began sniffing out which of the bodies seemed the freshest, passing many bodies. The fresh smell of a recent kill caught its senses and it soon found itself in front of the carcass of a half-demon. While it would have preferred a human itself, a half-demon's flesh was far sweeter than any purebred. It reared back its head, planning on taking a large chunk of meat from the left thigh, its mouth already salivating in anticipation.

A flash of red later and the demon's head rolled away from its body, jaws still unhinged as if it didn't know it were dead yet. Harry walked up in disgust and relief. Relief that he had gotten there soon enough and disgust at the thought of if he hadn't. He swallowed as he set his eyes once more on his friend's body; the skin seemed grey with death.

"I am so sorry," Harry whispered into deaf ears as he knelt down to pick Inuyasha up with both arms. Harry did not know exactly what he was sorry for. Maybe it was for leaving his body there unattended, or for not helping him right after fixing his gate instead of passing out, or maybe it was for stealing his socks and then putting holes in them. He just felt he should be sorry. Sorry he had survived while a man who actually had a real family didn't.

Harry shook his head of those thoughts and focused on getting them both to Inuyasha's room. There were greater problems at hand than the one in his own.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

The news of Inuyasha's death spread quickly throughout his friends and family. Many broke down crying while others could simply hold their silence in shock. However, the majority of them refused to believe it was true.

"I'm telling you, he's done this before," Kouga said strongly to the throng of people currently in the Nagasaki residence, "I've seen him die and then pop back to life. What makes this time any different?"

"Because this time there is no prophecy to keep him alive."

Everyone turned to see Harry in the doorway; still bloody and shirtless and looking like he might pass out at any given moment.

"What do you mean," Sesshomaru asked. Despite his differences with his brother, he had no desire for him to die like that; at the hand of a wizard.

Harry leaned against the doorway to get some of the weight off his feet. He had just placed Inuyasha's body on his bed on the second floor and was still reeling from emotional shock.

"The PTB had protected him from any permanent death because of a prophecy that had passed three years ago. Ever since then he was no longer under their divine protection. He is very much dead."

The whole room had gone silent when he spoke.

"What are you saying?" Sesshomaru asked in a cold whisper, "What prophesy."

Harry looked around at the dumfounded faces and realized how little they knew about Inuyasha's connection with the PTB.

"Its nothing of importance right now," Harry replied with just as much coldness. The underlying threatening tone stopped anyone from arguing with him, for they could see the demi-demon was quite high-strung due to the recent events.

"Where is he?" Alaina asked, repeating her earlier question. Harry's jaded eyes held her amber ones before he answered.

"He's on his bed—not all at once!" he continued sharply when everyone went to move upstairs. Inuyasha's immediate family, namely his children, moved onward. Harry breathed out and stepped forward, collapsing in an empty chair. Less than a second later a hand pulled him upwards by the arm.

"Oh no you don't. You'll get blood on everything. Come on, I'll clean you up," Ayame said, leading him to the bathroom. Harry was far too exhausted to argue.

The remaining people looked on as they left. Kouga shook his head.

"I still can't believe he's dead," he said hollowly. Over the years without Kagome to fight over the two had become good friends.

"I know," Shippo agreed quietly, "It was so abrupt. It seems so surreal."

"Did Inuyasha mention this prophecy to either of you?" Sesshomaru asked. He was greatly troubled at the news. While he had discovered his brother was a guardian of hell, warranting some respect for the half-breed, he never would have suspected he was that involved with the divine powers as to be dealing with prophecies.

Shippo and Kouga shook their heads.

"He really was closed off, now that I think about it," Shippo said, "I mean, he was talkative and lively and all that, but he never revealed too much about himself to me."

"Hmm, nor me," Kouga agreed. The room fell into a small silence, no one really knowing what to say about the situation.

"Guys!" Souten yelled from the T.V. room, her voice laced with panic, "I think you need to see this!"

Everyone on the first floor rushed to the T.V. room where the twenty-eight inch screen displayed one of the most horrifying beings they'd ever seen. The news caster seemed frightened for her life as she relayed the events that occurred hours earlier in what was once Little Hanging. The news cast continued to replay clip of the beast that had desecrated the town.

"Oh fuck," Harry whispered upon walking into the room with a bandage wrapped tightly around his stomach. He stared at the creature that was both his enemy as well as Inuyasha's and could almost feel himself shaking under the pressure he knew he would be under to take care of this. He only received sympathetic looks from the other occupants of the room.

_'God damn it, Inuyasha,'_ Harry thought in dismay, _'why the fuck did you have to die on me _now_ of all times?'_

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

The headlines of the Daily Prophet and Quibbler had never been so comparable before. Every news-related paper in the wizarding world was filled with the supposed return of Voldemort. Only this time there was no scapegoat they could take their fears out on. There were no secondhand eyewitness accounts that they could scoff at. Everyone had seen it: the enormous, sickly green skull and snake, entwining in the sky above muggle and wizard residence alike. The ministry was going crazy; aurors were being sent out to every town that had been attacked.

But this was not the same Voldemort that they had encountered three years ago. For one thing there were no deatheaters doing the dirty work. They had neither been summoned nor had the courage to follow whatever creature had replaced their master. There was something greater and more terrible about this Voldemort; as if another presence had merged itself with the beast that was once Tom Riddle. And something had.

By using the book of blood magic, Lord Voldemort and Naraku both came to an agreement of binding. Not just in their bodies, but with their souls as well. All for the purpose of achieving their dreams of totalitarian rule over the world as well as disposing of the very people who had imprisoned them in hell. And they had already accomplished the better half of the latter.

The body that they created was a hideous sight indeed. Voldemort's face was crowned by long, black tresses that sharply brought out the waxy skin that stretched across his snake-like face. The upper part of his torso looked humanoid while the bottom was a mass of dozens of thick tentacles—courtesy of Naraku. The whole body was gargantuan on its own, reaching nearly forty feet in height, managing to contain both magical powers and demonic to use at its best advantage. When the beast spoke it was duel voices, that of two demons with a weak human establishment. Two parallel souls, destined to combine forces against their nemeses.

The only thing that could stop this beast, as the people of earth came to call it during its public destruction, would have to have been two other parallel souls. But at the present time, that seemed like an impossible possibility.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Oh, what a terrible situation we have here. And the next chap: It will seem even more terrible. But fear not! Harry will think of a plan! A very stupid plan. That will make the PTB very, very upset. Ah, following in Inuyasha's footsteps already.

Thanks for the reviews, you guys! You make me wanna get these bitches out faster!


	6. His Final Message

**Chapter 6**

"Harry you need rest," Alaina stated as she saw the young man attempting to wear holes in carpet of his bedroom. Harry ignored her and continued pacing. He had been over-anxious since seeing the television debut of the new tyrant that had been born and hadn't given his wounds any time to heal. Alaina sighed in frustration.

"Harry I know you're under a lot of pressure..."

"You don't know what kind of pressure I'm under." Harry snarled, whirling on her faster than she could expect, "They have the book, God damnit. I have no weapons other than my memory."

"Harry..." Alaina sighed, her eyes softening, "I'm just saying you're putting more stress on yourself than you need. You don't have to fight them yet."

"I _do_ have to fight them!" Harry continued strongly, "I just can't NOT do anything. I'm the only one with that power. But it's not enough. The second I do fight them, or it, or whatever they are now, the wizarding world will know of my existence and then they will expect me to fight him until he's gone. But it's just not enough. I'm not enough. I'm not nearly strong enough. I—I need your father, I need Inuyasha..."

Alaina threw her arms around his neck when he broke off, looking lost and overwhelmed. For the first time since Inuyasha's death he came dangerously close to crying. He had never felt so alone in his life. Through all his expectations and hardships he had someone to guide him or counsel him. Whether it had been Dumbledore, Sirius, the Weasley's or Inuyasha, someone was there. And now he was here, two enemies on his hands, the death of his mentor and best friend, and no book. What the _fuck_ was he supposed to do?

Wallowing in his hopeless situation, Harry distantly thought about what Inuyasha would do in his place. A soft chuckled escaped him.

"What is so funny?" Alaina asked, pulling away from him, but leaving her arms on his shoulders. How could he go from depression to laughing so quickly?

"I think I'm going to rush head first into this one," he stated, disentangling himself from her.

"What?" she exclaimed aghast. But Harry didn't listen, he merely shadow-walked out of her sight. It took all but three seconds for Alaina to realize what he was doing.

"Oh—oh no. No, no, no..." she muttered, sounding slightly frantic. She raced out of the room, calling for any demon that could stop him.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

People were running in all directions as the Beast tore its way through London, smashing apart buildings and killing any being that crossed its path. Muggle helicopters swarmed the air; news casts, muggle and wizard alike, aligned any street that was still intact. As individuals Naraku and Voldemort preferred to work behind the scenes, slowly making their presence known through underhand schemes and manipulations, but combined it saw no need for subtlety.

"Pathetic humans," it hissed, slamming a tentacle into an army tank. The explosion took out two other tanks near by.

"Guy's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Auror Ron Weasley muttered to his fiancé. The two were with a round of other aurors that were preparing to interfere with the Beast's path when it reached the Leaky Cauldron. However, their hopes weren't high; the Beast had shown magnificent resilience to magic, courtesy of Naraku's demonic contribution.

"Shut up Ron. We're most likely going to die in a few minutes and all you can do is make jokes?" Hermione hissed at him.

"Erm...yes," he replied, shrugging.

"Wands at the ready!" Shaklebolt shouted as the Beast approached them. All the aurors raised their wands to chest level.

"Stun it!"

Dozens of red lights showered on the tyrant, bouncing off in all directions, many hitting civilians attempting to evacuate the area.

"Fire at will!" Shaklebolt commanded. The aurors obliged, some even going as far as shooting off unforgivables. This did nothing but piss the Beast off. With a swipe a tentacle, aurors were thrown from their feet, crashing into buildings and streets.

"Shit!" Tonks swore, "Magic doesn't work on this fucker!"

"Ya think?" Ron countered, diving behind a car as another stray tentacle tried to take off his head.

"Have you tried severing them?" Hermione shouted to Shaklebolt. The man nodded his bald head.

"Nothing's working," he replied, "Shit, Granger, look out!"

Hermione turned and screamed as a sharpened tentacle descended upon her. She closed her eyes and impulsively thought one thing:

_'I wish Harry was here...'_

She heard a sickening splatter and a screeching roar. After a second waiting too long she realized she was still alive. She opened her eyes to see blood and entrails covering the ground around her. She blinked her eyes at the beast who was reeling back roaring, one tentacle down.

"What happened?" she gasped at Ron. But the young man was too busy staring, ashen faced, at one of the buildings. Hermione followed his gaze to see a man standing on a fourth story windowsill. He had black and silver hair, a muscular build with silver strips adorning his body, and already seemed battle worn. In his hand was a red whip of some kind.

"Looking for me, shit head?" he called out to the Beast, a cocky grin on his face.

Hermione knew that voice, and she knew that man.

"It...can't be..." she trailed, staring up at the figure in shock. She shook her head, refusing to believe it was true, "No...no he died!"

"It's Harry Potter!" someone in the crowed screamed, pointing upwards. The crowed immediately began talking, some shaking their heads with wide eyes, some covering their mouths their hands while noticing the strange differences in him, and others screaming out to him to save them.

The Beast gave a throaty chuckle.

"I was wondering how many people I would have to kill for you to show your face, Potter." Both the voices of Naraku and Voldemort combined in a bone trembling manner. Harry crouched down and gave a loud growl, baring his elongating fangs.

He leapt at the beast, the crowd screaming as he appeared to be jumping from the building, and dodged the tentacles that were thrown at him, leaping from each snakelike appendage, slowly making his way to the core. He reared back his hand, claws extracting, and tore off several limb. Several limbs that managed to grow back just as fast. It became increasingly difficult to reach the center as he got closer to the merge that was Naraku and Voldemort. Numerous times Harry was sideswiped and sent crashing into buildings, cars or telephone poles. The crowd below him made a very good audience; cheering at his advances, hissing as he smashed into bone-breaking impacts. It wasn't long before blood magic was thrown into the mix. Harry threw everything he had into it despite still being short on blood from his recent battle at the gate.

"What..." Tonks began, eyes transfixed on the three-man battle, "the hell is he?"

"I...don't know..." Hermione trailed.

"Think it has something to do with dying, or going to hell, or whatever he did?" Ron asked. The girls just shrugged and continued to watch. Much of the people of London managed to evacuate the city by now, the only remaining ones being news casts or fighting forces of many kinds. Everyone watched as a single person managed to do some damage to the creature that muggle or wizard could bring down.

The three of them winced as Harry was shot down into the street again with such force that the pavement cracked, another blow immediately followed. Harry groaned and tried to move out of the way, but exhaustion had finally set in, and he soon found himself being slammed mercilessly into a car. The car caved in, the body of a human imprinted in its side. Harry staggered away from the metal mess and looked at the aurors standing around him.

"Get out of here," Harry growled at them, his voice sounding more demonic than ever. The aurors ran, finding no objection to his command. All but Hermione, who stood shocked after witnessing her former friend be thrown hundreds of feet into an automobile and get up like it was nothing.

"Harry..." she started meekly, forgetting the setting she was in. He turned on her for a second and Hermione finally got a good look at his demon form. She nearly fainted from shock as his slitted, green eyes gleamed unnaturally.

"Go!" he repeated in a ragged voice, glaring at her. Hermione nodded, frightened, before apparating away. Another tentacle fell down on him, but it was destroyed in a blue flame before it made contact. Harry looked around, bewildered.

"Shippo?" he asked upon spotting the fox demon. Shippo spared him a look before jumping into the task of holding the Beast at bay along side of Sesshomaru and Kouga.

'_When had they gotten there?'_ Harry thought, suddenly feeling dizzy from blood loss.

"Come on, dumbass," a female voice said in his ear. He looked over dazedly to see Alaina scowling at him. She grabbed his arm, not seeming to care that her nails were digging into his arm, and apparated the two of them away.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

"What were you thinking?" Alaina shrieked at him. Harry shrugged, wincing as she pushed his shoulder back in place.

"I just wanted to find out how strong he was. I needed to know what I was up against," even as he said it, it sounded lame.

"Oh, how? By getting your self killed? We already lost dad! Why would you—how could you—"

She broke off and swallowed several times, her eyes filling with tears.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly, feeling very bad all of a sudden. But Alaina had had enough.

"Save it," she snapped angrily and stormed out of the room. Harry dropped his head in his hands. At least he had proved what he already knew; he could not defeat this thing alone. He sighed and stood to take a shower and a nap. Perhaps once his body had recovered he'd be able to think more clearly.

0o0o0o

0o0o0o

Hours later Harry found himself seated in a chair next to Inuyasha's bed. He stamped out his third cigarette and tried focusing on anything other than Inuyasha. The shower had done nothing, nor had the nap. He was still screwed when he woke.

Harry stared at the half-empty bottle of firewhisky he held loosely in his hand and was vividly reminded of the time three years ago when he and Inuyasha shared a firewhisky in his office. They had talked and joked like life-long friends. Hadn't he thought then about how he wouldn't be able to move on if Inuyasha had been taken from his life? He was too important then and he was too important now. There was no way he could win this alone.

Harry's eyes could no longer avoid the body next to him, cold and grey. It hurt to see the once bright and lively young man so still, so...dead. Harry reached a hand over and poked the wax-like hand that rested at Inuyasha's side. He had seen plenty of dead bodies, but none that were over a day old with the life completely drained out. It nearly scared him. Harry's gaze dropped to the hand and his brows furrowed as he noticed something clutched between the clawed fingers.

"What the—?" It was almost like in his second year, when he had to pry the note out of Hermione's petrified grip, but Inuyasha's body put up no fight, and the small piece of paper was soon transferred into Harry's care. How had no one noticed this before?

His eyes scanned the message scrawled across it and his breath hitched in his throat.

Bridget walked into the room to see Harry leaning over her father's body. She assumed he was mourning so she made her way quietly over to him. While her sister had been furious with her crush, and she could understand why, she also understood why he had done it. It would have been the same thing her father would have done.

"Harry," Bridget said softly, resting her small hand on his arm, "you can't do this alone."

Harry started at her sudden presence and looked at her as she spoke the words he had been thinking mere minutes ago. She was so mature for her age sometimes that he forgot she was nine years younger than him. He glanced down at the paper in his hand.

"No, and I won't."

He stood up, swinging his jacked around his back and pulling his arms through the sleeves.

"Where are you going?" Bridget asked.

Harry turned and looked back at her, the familiar, determined spark returning to his emerald eyes once more. He looked at the paper in his hand a last time to make sure he got the directions right before shadow-walking away.

'_Tokyo. Higurashi Shrine. Well house.'_

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Ohhhh, yeaaaah.

There's still a bit of drama in Inuyasha's house hold. And the wizarding world isn't too concerned about the muggles noticing them at the moment since everyone has fallen into sort of a crisis.

Thanks for the Reviews! They're amazing!


	7. Kagome

**Chapter 7**

Harry and Alaina stood inside of the Higurashi Shrine well house enveloped in darkness, both standing at the lip of the abandoned well. Harry had brought Alaina for the sole purpose of translating for him. While Inuyasha managed to teach him the basics of Japanese, he was by no means fluent in it.

"But why would dad want you to go _here_?" Alaina asked for the umpteenth time, completely bewildered by the whole situation.

"Did your dad tell you anything about his life in the feudal era?" Harry asked. He was probing the barrier surrounding the well with his magic and was quite discouraged by how strong it was.

"Well yes, a bit. Mostly bed time stories for when we were little. Why?"

"Did he ever mention anything about the well? The one could bring someone five hundred years back into the past?"

"I always thought that was just a fairytale. Like something he added to entertain us. You can't actually think that was true!" she laughed at him.

"Well I believe him. It must be if he wants us to go there. Look, I'll prove it to you."

Harry jumped over the edge of the well, landing on the soft dirt at the bottom. Alaina peeked her head over the side.

"Any luck?"

Harry pursed his lips and glared up at her, knowing she was internally laughing at him. He jumped back out with a graceful leap.

"Shut up," he muttered.

"You still didn't answer my question. _Why_ did dad send us here? Why go back in the past if that's what it's really for?"

Harry thought for a moment. She had a point. Why _had_ Inuyasha sent him there? Harry's eyes suddenly widened as he realized what he could gain from this.

"The book!" he said out loud.

"Yes, Harry, it's gone," Alaina said patiently. Harry shook his head, smiling.

"No! You don't understand! They book is in the feudal era! Inuyasha came back to Japan with it, he told me! That must be what he wanted, for me to get the book! And...he knew that, because it already happened to him!"

Alaina blinked at him, "Whoa, whoa, slow down there, killer. I lost you with that last sentence."

"It doesn't matter," Harry waved her off, "We just have to find that Kagome girl and get her to break the spell somehow. You remember your dad mentioning her, don't you?"

Alaina nodded, still looking slightly lost.

"And where, pray tell, are we going to find this chick?"

Harry smiled and pointed at the open doorway, their only source of light. Seconds later a very beautiful young woman appeared in the entrance; Harry had smelled her coming. She had long, wavy black hair and grey-blue eyes, not to mention a magnificent figure. She looked to be in her early twenties and at her side was a bow and arrow.

"Excuse me!" She called in Japanese at seeing two strangers in her well house, "can I help you? The gift shop is over in that building." She pointed to somewhere out of their sight.

"Actually, you can help us," Harry said in English, grinning appreciatively at her.

"And how would that be?" she asked back in English, taking note of his British accent.

"I need you to break the spell on the well for me, love."

The woman's eyes widened and then narrowed suspiciously, "Who are you?"

"Please miss...Kagome, right? Please, it's an emergency."

Faster than he thought possible for a human, Kagome had the arrow notched at his chest.

"Explain demon."

Harry then realized that she was probably drawn to the well house in the first place by his demonic aura.

"My name is Harry Potter," he said slowly. If there was one thing he knew about women, it was that they were unpredictable, "I am here because I need to go to the feudal era to retrieve a couple of things so I can save the world in _this_ time."

Kagome merely raised a thin eyebrow.

"Right," she said disbelievingly, "And you are?"

"I'm Alaina. Inuyasha's daughter. Listen girl, you have to open this well. People are dying!"

Kagome's grip on her bow faltered at her words.

"What—what do you mean 'Inuyasha's daughter'? How can he...but..."

Harry grabbed Alaina's arm and dragged her out of the well house into the light of the sun so Kagome could have a better look at them.

"See the resemblance?" he asked. Alaina looked very little like Inuyasha, but she did have his eyes and nose.

"I...guess," Kagome whispered, still in shock, "But—Inuyasha has a daughter? Is he here?"

"No..." Alaina said softly, "That's the problem. Haven't you seen the news lately?"

Kagome shook her head negative.

"Come on and look at it then."

Kagome was reluctant to trust them, despite their claims of knowing Inuyasha, but she was curious and led them inside her empty house and to a T.V..

"Turn it on," Harry commanded. Personally he just saw this as a waste of time, but decided to humor the girl for now if it got him down the well. Kagome shot him an annoyed look but did so.

"What...is this?" She asked, falling back on the couch in shock at the first thing she saw. She flicked through the channels seeing many different angles on what looked like a new rendition of Naraku destroying everything in his path.

"Armageddon if you don't open the fucking well," Harry growled. He really hated waiting. Alaina smacked him upside the head to shut him up.

"Not long ago, Naraku and Voldemort, a dark wizard that Harry defeated, both escaped out of hell and are now terrorizing the world. They've combined into one being and no one can stop him but Harry and my dad," she explained.

"Naraku..." Kagome breathed, "How long has this been going on for?"

"A couple days. Where have you been?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I _was_ about to start my last semester of college—I go to school overseas—but then I received a disturbing call from my mom about how she wanted me back over in Japan. Now I know why..."

Kagome seemed to be in a bit of a shock as she tried to comprehend what was going on around her. Naraku was back, Inuyasha had lived until this time and had KIDS, and one of his own daughters was here right now.

"This is stupid," Harry muttered, "I'll be out in the God tree waiting for you bitches to hurry up."

Kagome tore her eyes away from the screen to scowl at him. There was something about him that reminded her of someone...

"You said you're his daughter?" she asked the other girl. Her demonic aura was noticeably smaller than Harry's, but also slightly similar to Inuyasha's.

Alaina moved to sit down next to her on the couch.

"Yeah, one of them. He's had a lot of kids over the years."

"So he's married, huh?" Kagome asked dully. If figures he would turn into the family man once she was out of his life. Alaina stared strait ahead at the T.V., but answered her nonetheless.

"No. He's divorced," she paused for a moment, "You know why he's divorced?"

Kagome blinked as another building came crashing down at the hands of the Beast, "Why?"

"Because his wife was aging, and she didn't like it," Harry answered, jumping down from the tree and landing on the window sill in a crouch, "Can we go, please?"

"That's not all of it," Alaina said, shooting him a look to shut-up-and-listen, "I never told you this Harry, but the real reason mom began to resent him was a bit deeper than that. She knew what he was and was insulted that he refused to mate with her. If he had, she would have shared the same lifespan with him."

"Why didn't he mate with her if he loved her enough to marry her?" Kagome asked.

Alaina finally looked at Kagome with the same amber colored eyes that Inuyasha had.

"Because dog demon's mate for life. He loved her, but not enough."

"Oh," Kagome answered softly, a flurry of emotions tumbled in her stomach.

'_Stop it,'_ she commanded herself_, 'You're over that stupid crush and so is he!'_

She was about to ask where Inuyasha was for all of this but was interrupted by his "clone".

"Let's go! What the hell are we just sitting around for?" Harry leapt out the open window once more.

"I ought to put a subduing spell on this one," Kagome muttered to Alaina, exiting through the door. Alaina giggled as she followed.

Soon the three of them were in the well house once more.

"So..." Harry looked expectantly at the miko.

"I...don't have enough power," Kagome admitted, "I've tried before—"

"Save it," Harry snapped, "When was the last time you tried? Five years ago? You're a lot more powerful now and you _can_ break it, I can tell by looking at you. Just shoot one of your arrows down it."

Kagome blinked, wondering why she hadn't thought of that. After all, her spiritual powers had increased a lot over the years since she continued to practice them.

"Alright," she muttered, climbing onto the lip of the well for a better angle, "Here goes."

She shot a blue-energized arrow down. The second it hit the dirt a small explosion of spiritual power erupted from the base of the well sending her falling backwards into Harry's arms.

"Yes!" he cried out, jumping into the well without letting go of Kagome.

"Harry!" she shrieked, "Put me d—"

The rest of her cry was cut off as a blue light enveloped them.

"What the fuck!" Alaina cried; that son of a bitch was right! She stared in shock at the empty well; the very one she had believed to be a mere myth.

"The hell with it," she muttered, jumping in after them.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

The first thing Harry noticed was that the scent of the air was noticeably fresher...earthier, if anything. The second thing he noticed was that there was a struggling, furious woman in his arms.

"Put me down, you asshole!" she hissed. Harry shrugged and obliged, dropping her on her ass.

"Ouch!"

Harry leapt out of the well, landing in a grassy clearing surrounded by a lush forest. In the distance was a small, primitive village.

"This is nice," Harry commented to himself. Inuyasha's scent was all over the place, but strongest in the village. He was just about to head down there when the well glowed blue once more and Alaina jumped out, pulling Kagome up with her.

"You can't just drop a girl on her ass, Potter," Alaina said to him while Kagome dusted off her tight-fitting jeans. She turned to Kagome and muttered just loud enough for Harry to hear: "Just say the word and I'll help you with that subduing spell."

"I heard that," Harry grumbled, "Stop whining; do you want to find your father or not?"

"Of course I do. But I still don't understand why you brought me if I'm just slowing you down." Alaina said angrily.

"I brought you to translate of course," Harry said, "And I brought her by accident. You can leave if you want," he directed at Kagome. Kagome glared at him and gave him a rude gesture.

"I'm not going anywhere, jerk."

"You don't need me to translate!" Alaina interrupted, "Your Japanese is well enough and dad speaks English!"

"Inuyasha speaks English?" Kagome asked in bewilderment, "Now? As in this era?"

"It was his first language," Harry explained, "and he should be back in Japan right now," he turned his attention to Alaina, "But I don't know where he is so I need you to ask around."

"His first language?" Kagome asked again, totally lost, "I don't understand. Why would he leave Japan?"

"You can ask him yourself when we find him."

Kagome's heart danced a bit at the thought of seeing Inuyasha again. Would he have changed much? Did he age or did his demonic heritage slow him down too much? Was he upset at her for her actions all those years ago?

"Harry, I still don't think you need me. Just borrow the book from him and return it after we've taken care of the Beast. That's all there is to it."

Harry half grinned and shook his head.

"Do you actually think your dad, with not knowing who I am, would allow me to take the book away from him? He didn't even let _you_ touch it in our time."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, not failing to notice the way they talked about Inuyasha in the past tense.

Alaina stared at him after his statement, understanding his point but confused.

"But—how are you going to fight the Beast?"

"I'm not going to use the book to fight the Beast with," Harry laughed, his eyes sparkling, "I'm going to use it to bring your dad back."

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Hahahahaha! You didn't actually think I would let Inuyasha die, did you? What kind of sadistic bitch do you take me for? I am honestly disappointed in your lack of faith.

A little note: Even if Harry wasn't holding Kagome, he would have been able to go through the well because he is a parallel soul to Inuyasha who could go through it w/ out any jewel shards. And Alaina can go through it because she's his daughter.

The reviews are SO COOL! Thanks a bunch :)!


	8. Back to the Past

A/N: Alright, understand this—

English: "Bla Bla Bla"

Japanese: _"Bla Bla Bla"_

Capeesh? Great.

**Chapter 8**

_Last time:_

"_I'm not going to use the book to fight the Beast with," Harry laughed, his eyes sparkling, "I'm going to use it to bring your dad back."_

"What do you mean 'bring him back'?" Kagome asked suspiciously. She was beginning to draw conclusions from the conversation that made her blood run cold. Alaina ignored her, looking both scared and serious.

"Harry, you can't! Its...you don't...you don't understand how wrongly that can go. As much as I hate to say it, you should leave the dead, dead. Dad always said that."

"Are you telling me Inuyasha's dead?" Kagome interrupted in horror. Her heart felt lodged in her throat and a heavy weight settled in her stomach at the prospect. The other two continued as if she weren't there.

"I'm a guardian, Alaina. I'm sure I can pull a few strings," Harry replied, completely unfazed at her statement.

"He'll end up like a walking zombie! You remember what he told us about that Kikyo chick! He was always telling us never to mess with the dead! You can't do this to him!"

Kagome's eyes widened at the name Kikyo.

"Alright, first of all, that was a fucking third class necromancer who resurrected her!" Harry yelled back at her, "I've told you: I. Am. A. Guardian! Inuyasha walked into hell when I bound Voldemort with that spell and just walked right out with me—"

"—You weren't even dead—"

"It doesn't matter! We have his body! I can go down there and somehow, somewhere, the book will have something that can bind his soul back to it! I _know_ there has to be something in there!"

"Harry, you _don't_ know that. It's just wishful thinking and a waste of time!"

"Well I have to try!" Harry snarled at her with such fury that she stepped back away from him. The area was silent for a moment as the two demonic beings glared at each other. Kagome stared between the two. She had no idea what they were talking about at this point but didn't care. The only thing ringing through her mind was the fact that Inuyasha was dead. He was _dead_. Or at least he was in her time.

"The PTB won't like it—" Alaina finally sighed.

"The PTB screwed us in the first place!" Harry shot back. Kagome jumped in between them, catching their attention.

"Woah, woah, hold up!" she said, "Is Inuyasha dead?"

She needed confirmation on this.

"You explain it to her, I smell him," Harry said to Alaina before leaping off to the village.

"Harry, get back here!" Alaina commanded but he was already fading from view.

"Is he?" Kagome asked again, searching the younger girl's eyes. _Inuyasha's eyes_.

Alaina swallowed and looked at her feet. It was four days ago when Harry brought her father's body back and laid it on his bed and his death was still fresh in her mind.

"Yes," she whispered softly. Kagome's heart skipped a beat after hearing the word she knew would be uttered.

"No," she breathed, "How? Was it—?"

"It was Voldemort, not Naraku. He...Harry said he didn't even struggle...he just took the killing curse."

"Killing curse?" Kagome asked, near tears at this point. It sounded like Inuyasha had wanted to die if he just took it like that. Why didn't he fight? That didn't sound like Inuyasha she knew at all.

Then again, maybe it wasn't.

Alaina sighed, knowing she'd have to give this woman the full story.

"There is a lot you don't know about my father..."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Inuyasha's scent was much different than he remembered, but it was still easy enough for Harry to recognize. He landed in a crouch on the roof of the hut where Inuyasha's scent was emitting. The voices that he could hear inside stopped, and he knew that Inuyasha had sensed him. Harry then heard Inuyasha tell the other occupants of the hut something in another language; his voice was noticeably younger sounding.

Harry jumped from the roof just as the young Inuyasha exited through the door. He felt his jaw drop.

"I-Inuyasha?"

Harry stared at the man before him. He was indeed Inuyasha, no one could argue that, but Harry found it extremely unnerving to see they were about the same age and size (not that they were much different in his time). This Inuyasha was dressed in a loose, pirate style white shirt that was open at the chest with a wrap around his waist that held up kaki-colored pants. His hair was long; pulled back in many braids and his skin was deeply bronzed. He looked like he just got off of a cruise ship.

It wasn't just Inuyasha's appearance that was younger, but his aura seemed more youthful as well. He didn't seem nearly as powerful as Harry remembered and he lacked that all-knowing air around him.

"Do...I know you?" the Inuyasha in front of him asked skeptically. Harry found himself immensely amused that Inuyasha did not speak with the American accent he was used to hearing, but rather with a British one, like himself. He frowned when he noticed the inu's hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his side. Harry did not need Inuyasha to feel threatened by him if he was going to get is cooperation.

"No—er—well not yet," Harry could have smacked himself at the lame answer.

'_That's right, get him nice and confused and then ask for the book. That will work,'_ he thought angrily to himself.

Inuyasha blinked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Look," Harry said, not really knowing where to start, "I'm from the future. I know you in the future."

Inuyasha's manner instantly changed from wary to anxious.

"How did you get here?" he asked eagerly as if he suspected the answer but wasn't confident enough in it.

"The well—"

"It works!" Inuyasha exclaimed excited. He looked like he was ready to run off there that second but the elated expression dropped and his ears drooping a little. He seemed to have just remembered something.

"Look, you can check it out later—" Harry started before people began emerging from the hut. Harry nearly growled at yet another interruption.

The first was a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties followed by a slightly older man in purple robes; both immediately took a defensive position at seeing him. Next came an elderly woman in the traditional priestess clothing followed shortly by a young fox demon.

"Shippo!" Harry said, forgetting his mission and nearly laughing at the child-like version of the kitsune he knew. The fox kit stared at him confused.

"_Who are you?" _He said in a young voice. Harry had to process what was said for a moment.

"_I—I am_...Aw fuck it," he turned back to Inuyasha, "Tell them it will be explained later. Right now I need your help."

Inuyasha relayed something to them in Japanese and then looked at Harry expectantly.

"Something happens in the future but I don't think I can reveal too much to you right now. What you need to know is something happens to you and you left me a message to come here. I need to use the book."

Inuyasha stiffened and his eyes narrowed.

"I'm not going to take it from you!" Harry rushed at the aggressive posture, "I only need to use it for something!"

"How do you know about it?" Inuyasha asked sharply. Though they didn't know what exactly was said, the man and woman behind him raised a staff and boomerang respectively at the tone of his voice. Harry grinned despite this.

"How very rude of me; I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself," he held out a hand to the half demon, "Harry Potter."

Inuyasha absently grabbed the hand with a dumbfounded look. Harry's grinned widened at the shocked expression; it served to confirm the hunch in the back of his mind. Inuyasha had already spoken with the PTB for the first time.

"You're..." Inuyasha managed to utter through his shock.

"The Chosen One, The Prophesized, The-Boy-Who-Lived, your protégé, most probably your future son-in-law if you don't get your daughter neutered...call me what you will."

Inuyasha managed to break out of his stupor and bark something at the people behind them. They lowered their weapons.

"So you'll help me?" Harry asked hopefully at this reaction.

Inuyasha nodded.

"What exactly do you need with the book?" he asked.

"I need to go to hell, and take it with me. I'll perform a spell and then its all yours again."

"H-hell?" Inuyasha repeated bleakly.

"Yup," Harry answered, ready to ask to see the book. He paused at apprehension coming off of Inuyasha, "What's the matter?"

"It's just...I just got back from hell...and, er...how exactly do you plan on managing that?"

Harry stared at him for a second as though he were daft before remembering this Inuyasha was not a guardian. The idea of him having more power than his mentor seemed so surreal he kept forgetting this wasn't the same guy.

"I can manage, don't you worry," Harry was still slightly unnerved by the odd way Inuyasha behaved when he mentioned hell, "How did you get out anyway? Forced opening?"

"A what?" Inuyasha asked, his face darkening. Harry scrunched up his nose in thought.

"Then it wasn't. But then how..." realization hit him in the face like a truck, "Oh ho," he said slyly, giving Inuyasha a couple elbows to the side, "Does this have anything to do with your first kids?"

"Kids?" Inuyasha said surprised, though his face blushed horribly. Harry then realized he might have said too much.

"Anyway—," he tried.

"No, no. Did you say kidzzz?" Inuyasha asked strongly, determined not to be diverted.

"It really doesn't—"

"As in PLURAL?"

"Can we please drop this?"

"That was not part of the deal!" Inuyasha said in a softer voice more to himself in disbelief. The half demon seemed horrified at the prospect. Harry let out a loud growl, startling Inuyasha and the ignored people behind him.

"Look, I don't have time for this! I need that book so I can save the world! Please! I don't have much time!" he tried to sound as desperate as possible. Inuyasha sobered and nodded. He turned back to the group of people behind him and said something in Japanese. Harry was fairly certain he heard 'explain' and 'later', but he couldn't be sure.

"Come with me to the God Tree," Inuyasha said, before leaping off into the forest. Harry grinned, gave a quirky wave to Shippo, and sped after him.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

(A/N: Alright, we're switching to Japanese here)

"Oh hell," Kagome muttered after hearing everything from Alaina. Inuyasha was a wizard, as were the majority of his kids; that she could accept. But he had lived nearly five hundred years, married six times and had TWENTY SEVEN CHILDREN? Never mind the fact that he was a guardian to hell, or that the gates of hell actually crashed at the turn of the millennium, or that he spent at least three days fighting before he was shot down by a curse of all things. Twenty seven fucking kids?

Kagome didn't know what upset her more: Inuyasha moving on with his life without her, or him dying.

She scowled at herself for that thought. What kind of cold-hearted bitch was she? Inuyasha had every right to move on with his life after she cut him off in one of her childish little tantrums.

"Kagome!"

Kagome looked up, startled. She and Alaina had both walked and talked, making it to the outskirts of the village.

"Did you hear that?" she asked the blonde. Alaina nodded and pointed strait ahead of them. Kagome managed to see a red blur before she was nearly knocked off her feet as two, child-like arms wrapped around her waist. She looked down to see the top of an auburn head with two pointed ears and twin, slender tails swishing happily behind it.

"I missed you so much! I can't believe you're here!" the demon child muffled into her stomach.

"Wait a minute..." Kagome whispered, recognizing the aura and the voice, "Shippo!"

The boy pulled away to reveal a slightly older version of the young kit she once mothered.

"Shippo!" she shrieked before pulling the boy into a tight hug, "Oh, I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too!" He cried, clinging to her neck. Alaina looked on bored.

"Lady Kagome!"

"The Lady had returned to us!"

"Lady Kagome, welcome back!"

The villagers had taken notice of Kagome's presence after the young kitsune's outburst.

"Kagome!"

Kagome pulled away from Shippo to see Sango and Miroku rushing towards her. She felt overwhelmed as they enveloped her in hugs and compliments. She couldn't help but think what a fool she was for ever leaving the best friend's she'd ever known.

Alaina stood a ways away, swearing to kill a certain demi-demon when she got the chance for pointlessly dragging her along. He did _so_ not need a translator.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

"Alright, so where's book?" Harry asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together. The two were both positioned next to the God tree.

"How important is this again?" Inuyasha asked reluctantly.

"Fate of the world," Harry deadpanned, "Why?"

"It's just...I kind of shrunk it, and I can't un-shrink it until the new moon. That's in three days."

Harry sighed and held out his palm, "Give it here."

Inuyasha reached into a small pouch attached to his sash and pulled out the miniaturized book. He placed it in Harry's triumphant hand.

"Finally," Harry breathed. Even with the book only a square inch in size, it was still a comfort to feel the familiar leather against his skin. He pulled out his wand and tapped the book, which immediately grew to scale.

"Oh Merlin, please be in here..." Harry mumbled, flipping through the pages. He ignored the soft gasp he heard from Inuyasha as he tore through the book.

"Kagome..." He heard the hanyou breath. But Harry didn't care. He had found something.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

I know what you're all thinking: _Where the hell has this chick been?_

Well, to answer your question, I've been in my room, not writing this. I hate writer's block, I really do. Anyways, sorry about that.

Yeah, that part with Inuyasha's kid and getting out of hell...confusing right? It will make sense in later chapters of Road to Remembrance. In fact, if you haven't read Road to Remembrance then you might not understand how Inuyasha recognized Harry's name.


	9. Postmortem Notes

**Chapter 9**

"And how old are you?" Kagome asked sweetly to the small child in Sango's arms.

"Three!" the young boy answered, his chubby cheeks plumping from a wide grin.

"Oh, Sango he's just adorable," Kagome cooed. Alaina huffed on the sidelines of the reunion and stuffed her hands in her pockets. Harry had warned her to keep information about herself as secret as she could, so she chose to stand in the background and try to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

Her fingers twitched around a papery material in her right pocket and she pulled it out, hoping it was money. She was briefly disappointed to find it was a simple, folded piece of paper until she opened it and read the message scrawled across it.

'_Take Kagome back to her time.'_

Alaina's eyes widened; at first only recognizing the writing as her fathers. Then the implications of what it meant hit her full force.

"Uh...Kagome! We've got to go!" Alaina said, breaking into her conversation with the long-time friend's child. Kagome looked at her startled.

"What? But I just got here! And I want to meet Inuyasha."

"Well apparently Inuyasha doesn't want to meet you."

"Excuse me?" Kagome sounded rather offended.

Alaina held her hands up.

"I'll explain later. Look, I need to take you back to our era for the time being. At least until we get dad back."

"Get him...Oh!" Kagome suddenly remembered why that Harry boy forced her to open the well in the first place, "We have to stop him!"

"What?" Now Alaina was the one confused.

Kagome shook her head, "I don't want Inuyasha to end up like Kikyo! I would rather he rest in peace."

Alaina growled, "He won't end up like that, I know Harry would never allow that. Now let's go!"

Alaina was thankful they were conversing in English; otherwise she'd probably have to obliviate those Miroku and Sango people. She gasped when she realized Kagome suddenly had an arrow trained on her. She hadn't even seen the girl reach for an arrow.

"I will not allow Inuyasha to suffer like Kikyo had," Kagome said, giving her a challenging look, "Move or I'll purify your ass."

"You'll do that to Inuyasha's own child?" Alaina said, not backing down. Miroku and Sango looked from one to the other, not understanding what was going on, but fully ready to defend their friend should the stranger get violent. Suddenly Shippo was between them, sniffing Alaina, completely ignoring the fact that Kagome had an arrow notched and ready to fire at any minute right behind his back.

"Shippo!" Kagome cried indignantly as he got in the way of her target. She had to find that half-demon fast before he meddled with things that ought not to be meddled with.

"You smell familiar," Shippo said, paying no attention to Kagome. Alaina nervously took a step back from the sniffing kid. While his senses were not as good as her father's, she knew Shippo well enough to realize he could draw the connection between her scent and Inuyasha's.

"Um..." Alaina said trying to find something to say that would distract him. Help came in the form of a wolf demon.

"Ayaaa!" Kagome screamed as she was whisked away in a blur. Alaina, Shippo, Sango and Miroku stood, rooted to their spots, wondering where the hell the miko from the future suddenly disappeared to. Shippo was the first to react.

"Kagome!" he cried. He made to run toward the direction where her scent was coming from. Alaina dived forward and grabbed both his tails with one hand. It was weird for her; she was used to him having three.

"Let me go!" he cried angrily, snapping his fangs at her hand. She growled and bonked him on the head.

"Listen to me!" the monk, slayer, and kitsune all stopped after hearing her speak Japanese for the first time. Knowing she had their attention, she quickly continued, "Kagome is fine. Use your nose, Shippo."

Shippo glared at her, not bothering to comment on how she knew who he was, but took a few sniffs in the air while trying hard to ignore the familiar scent that was coming off the strange girl in front of him.

"That was...Kouga? But why would Kouga be taking Kagome away?"

"It's not the same Kouga," Alaina stated, "He's from my time, in the future."

"Who are you?" Miroku asked, stepping forward.

"I'm...from Kagome's time."

"Well I could have told you that," Shippo said dryly, sounding more like his self in the future. This time, Sango spoke up.

"How do you know Kagome?"

"I—I can't tell you," Alaina cringed at how lame that sounded, "Look, I'm not supposed to reveal anything with the future because I know some people here who exist there and it can screw things up. As it is, I'm not supposed to be here. If it weren't for that damn Potter..."

She trailed off at a growl, not noticing the weird looks she was receiving from the other three as she was busy envisioning ways to torture the semi-hanyou when she got her hands on him. Guardian be damned, he wouldn't stand a chance against her at this point. She finally broke out of her trance and addressed everyone.

"Please don't interfere with anything. The Inuyasha from the future probably sent Kouga to stop Kagome from meeting him."

Miroku raised an eyebrow at the request. He couldn't very well let Kagome be whisked away like that and not do anything, "But why would it matter?"

"He hasn't seen Kagome ever since she sealed the well shut, so he doesn't want to ruin anything in the timeline." It was probably true anyway.

"But why didn't Inuyasha do that himself? Why send Kouga?" Sango asked.

"Because..." Alaina swallowed heavily. She hated being constantly reminded of her father's death and thought up a quick excuse, "Because he wouldn't want to run into his past self. That can have consequences. I...I have to go."

She excused herself and apparated away before she lost control of her emotions again. She had cried too much as it was. Now was the time to fight, and she knew just who her first victim would be.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Kagome screwed her eyes shut against the harsh wind as someone carried her at breakneck speed away from her friends. She could tell that it was definitely a male demon that carried her as it was a pair of two, strong arms that held her bridal style. But there was something intriguingly familiar about the aura of this demon. She managed to squint up at the tanned and defined face of a wolf demon. He had short, spiky, black hair, pointed ears, and cerulean eyes that smiled down on her.

"Kouga?" she gasped at the grown man that was leaping off with her. He grinned, showing off his fangs.

"What's up?" he said pleasantly. She noticed his voice was deeper, more mature. Something was wrong. He shouldn't have aged this much in only five years; not for a demon.

"Kouga—" she started, "I don't understand what's been going on..."

The rest of her sentence was cut off as he unexpectedly leaped into the well, the two of them disappearing into a blue light.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

"Kagome..."

Inuyasha was seconds from running after the scent of the woman he just caught whiff of when Harry's arm shot up and grasped a sleeve.

"Not happening," he said, standing from where he was seated and holding the book open to one of the very last pages.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked, trying not to get angry. He wanted to see Kagome, damnit.

"I mean," Harry replied, without taking his eyes off the book, "That you're not supposed to see her yet. You haven't seen her since she sealed the well; I know because you've told me."

Inuyasha tilted his head to the side.

"What would it matter if I did see her anyway? What harm could it do?"

"A lot—" Harry began but was cut off by Alaina, who appeared at Inuyasha's side with a crack. Had Inuyasha not spent a year with wizards, it would have scared the shit out of him.

"It wouldn't matter anyway," she said holding up a small crumpled paper in her hand, "She's already been sent away by the 'omniscient one'."

"She left? Already?" Inuyasha asked, forlornly. Alaina took pity on her future father after seeing his adorable ears droop.

"She didn't want to," she said honestly, "But you managed to send her away in your own manner—your future self," she added hastily as he opened his mouth to object, "It isn't your time to meet her yet. You still have a lot to do with your life without her."

Inuyasha nodded in understanding, but didn't seem to like it any better. He would have at least liked to have made amends with the girl.

"You have a way of making decisions for people without them even knowing it," Harry threw in. That turned out to be the wrong thing to say for the current situation.

"Speaking of which..._you_—," Alaina said jumping forward and poking Harry hard in the chest. "You didn't need a translator, you bastard! You brought me here to distract her, didn't you?"

Harry shrugged, finding no sense in denying it, "Hey, what's done is done."

Alaina pursed her lips, spun on her heal and assaulted Inuyasha next.

"This is your fault!" She said in Japanese so fast that Harry had trouble understanding her, "Before he knew you he was a sweet boy and you turned him into a manipulative asshole!"

Inuyasha grinned and shrugged, "What's done is done."

Alaina threw her hands in the air, finding the while situation hopeless.

"Its worse now that they're the same age, isn't it? It's like they're twins or something."

Alaina turned quickly to see her younger sister approaching them.

"Bridget!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"You didn't actually think I'd leave saving my dad to _you_ did you? You incompetent man..."

At the silent looks she received, she gave in.

"Fine. Kouga received a note saying that Alaina might need some help getting Kagome to move. He needed me to get through the well. But I _am_ pissed that you left me out like that," she growled at Harry, leveling a glare at him.

"Man, did he leave everybody a fucking note?" Harry muttered to himself. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he became aware of the irate glowers he was receiving from the two females.

"Ya know," he said suddenly, looking down at the invisible watch on his wrist, "I really need to be going—I've got people to resurrect, beasties to slay, the PTB to piss off...tata!"

In a swirl of smoke Harry was gone, as was the book. That left Alaina and Bridget in quite an awkward situation with their father.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the pair, "Your...dad?"

Inuyasha was not an idiot, nor was he unaware of the scents coming off of them. Alaina and Bridget both gulped. Awkward indeed.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

See, I'm back on track aren't I? Even though I should be studying for Psyc XD!

Thank you for all your reviews! It's simply overwhelming how many people like this story. And then I get all excited and write more. My college career be damned, I'd rather sit on my ass all day and type.

And I know some of you will be upset with me for thwarting the long awaited reunion of Inuyasha and Kagome—be patient, I'm just waiting for the opportune moment.

Tee hee.


	10. Against all Warnings

**Chapter 10**

It was now the third time in less than twenty years that The Order of the Phoenix had to be called together all for the same foe. A meeting was in recess at the residence of Grimmuald Palace, but the members were not discussing the creature that was known as the 'Beast' nor was the next seemingly futile plan of attack being considered. No, they were discussing the spectacle half the world recently saw on the television—one that they were present for.

"That wasn't him," Ron Weasley, Junior Auror stated, pacing the room full of Order members. His fiancé pursed her lips, shaking her bushy head of hair in disagreement.

"You saw him Ron. We've been over this a hundred times; no one else could have that kind of power over Voldemort!"

"Hermione—he's dead! And he was most certainly not a demon. That was just a demon that looked like Potter."

"I have to agree with Weasley," Moody growled, "it was obviously a demon that just resembled the boy. The question we should be asking is: is he on our side?"

"But the Beast called him 'Potter'," Hermione argued strongly, "Why would he do that if it wasn't him?"

"Hermione, I know you would like to think that was Harry, but you must accept the fact that he's dead," Tonks said sympathetically. She knew more than anyone else how much the girl regretted throwing away Harry's friendship just before he died.

"Besides, if that was Potter, then where is he now?" Owen Chambers, a former Hufflepuff asked, "I mean, did he just abandon us to fend for ourselves against that demon? Why isn't he fighting it now?"

"For the last time," Ron said annoyed and angry, "That wasn't Potter! That was a bloody demon!"

"I was just saying 'what if'..."

"Demons...wizards...muggles..." Dumbledore trailed. He and the new minister both agreed that, while they should be worrying about the exposure of the wizarding world to the muggle one, there were simply too many higher priorities that had to be taken care of. In his old age and at the pace things were happening, he was having trouble thinking of a course of actions. And the longer he took the more lives it cost.

Ginny sat in the corner of the room gazing at her lap while an internal battle raged on in her mind. A few more choice words from Ron about how Harry was dead was all it took for her to speak up.

"It was him." She said confidently, shocking a few of those close to her with her sudden, strong tone. Dumbledore peered over the rim of his half-moon glasses at her.

"And what makes you say this, Miss Weasley?" She was hiding something from them, he could see it.

"I know this because..." having everyone's attention on her at once made her throat tighten. She swallowed a few times, "Because he isn't human."

The room burst with activity, people crying out in disbelief or outright laughing at her, before Dumbledore held a hand up for silence.

"Explain."

Ginny kept her eyes on her knees. If she looked at the critical faces she wouldn't be able to break her promise to Harry that she made over three years ago.

"He—he showed me back in my fifth year...after he came back from hell...I—," She blinked a few times and took a breath, "I first saw him in his true form in the library that day Madam Pince died..."

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Kouga set Kagome down on the ground outside of the well house and stepped back. It was almost eerie for him to see the young woman so grown up. Her hair was much longer, reaching mid back now and she seemed to have grown a few inches. The thought that he had intended to make her his wife at such a young age almost made him shudder. Or perhaps that was because he had grown accustomed to the customs of his present time.

"Kouga?" she spoke almost in a daze, "I don't understand...how are you?...the well..."

Kouga raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"I'm from this time Kagome, calm down. Long time no see."

"From my time, you mean?" she asked in disbelief. It would certainly explain why he looked so much older.

"Yeah," Kouga confirmed, "Apparently Inu knew he was going to bite it because he's left everyone instructions on what to do. According to the little love note he left me, I'm supposed to make sure you don't meet his past self."

Kagome momentarily dismissed the fact the Kouga just called Inuyasha by a nickname and focused on the more important matter.

"Why can't I?"

"Because, he hasn't seen you since you sealed the well. He's been working for the Powers that Be for quite a long time, or so I've recently discovered, so I would think that he'd be pretty familiar with the consequences of messing with destiny."

While Kouga had anticipated her to argue with him, he never expected her to punch him in the arm angrily with watery eyes.

"But then I'll never see him!" she cried, the full weight of the situation suddenly dawning on her, "I've been trying to reach him for five years just to apologize—_five fucking years_—and now he's dead! This was the only chance I'd get to see him! He has to know how sorry I am! He has to realize how much I regret that day! He died thinking of me as some selfish...selfish _bitch_."

She felt furious with herself as hot tears began to well in her eyes; she promised she would stop crying years ago. Kouga himself seemed rather alarmed at her sudden outburst and tears.

"H-hey, calm down. It's going to be fine. Right now we have more important things to worry about than Inuyasha."

Kagome sniffed and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, "Like?"

"Like that freak of nature and its public displays of destruction, perhaps?" Kouga suggested, slightly annoyed. His features softened at Kagome's trembling form. He realized how hard everything must be for her; suddenly Naraku's back, the well is open, and Inuyasha is just out of reach—dead.

"H-he's dead..." she trailed. She hadn't seen him in five years and he wasn't even the same man she once knew, but the thought still left her feeling hollow inside. Kouga placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I've known Inuyasha a long time, and if there's one thing I've learned about him it's that he never stays dead. Why don't I take you back to his house? It's become a headquarters of sorts for the rest of us. You can meet some of his kids and see Shippo again, how would you like that?"

Kagome nodded and sniffed, idly wondering when Kouga got so mature before remembering it wasn't the same man who used to propose to her every other week.

"Alright," she said quietly. Maybe by talking to his kids she'd be able to learn more about him, more about who he was. Even in the year that she spent with him there was so much she never knew and that, above all else, she truly regretted.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Alaina decided to speak first, since her sister was too busy staring at her "pirate" father. Apparently those bedtime stories were true; even the one about him having longer hair than them.

"We—"

"I don't want to know!" Inuyasha said quickly, clamping his hands over his ears.

"But—"

"Don't tell me! You're my kids, you're from the future and I'm dead—that's all I need to know."

Alaina raised her eyebrows impressed. This made things much easier for her.

"Well in that case, we'd better be going," she grasped her sister's forearm, preparing to leave.

"Are you really a captain of a pirate ship?" Bridget cut in excitedly before Alaina could apparate them to the well.

"Yeah—," Inuyasha nodded and looked like he would have said more before a look of horror washed over his features, "Oh shit! My crew! They're still at the harbor! Crap, I've got to get back there!"

Alaina giggled, remembering that her father almost lost his whole crew to a woman.

"Yes, I think you should hurry," she agreed.

"Hey Dad, go to Ameri—" Bridget's little piece of advise was cut off as her sister furiously apparated them out of there.

"Go where?" Inuyasha muttered, staring at the spot there were seconds before. He wanted very much to go get his crew from where he left them. He told them one week at the most and it had nearly been two! But he couldn't—and wouldn't—leave without his book. Inuyasha sighed and hopped up on his favorite branch in the God Tree. He'd just have to wait patiently. He could be patient...no problem...

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

As a guardian Harry had open access and leave of hell which he used to his advantage many times over the years. One would think that with the number of times he had gone there he would have the routine down pat. Standing in the middle of an everlasting white room, Harry wasn't so confident anymore.

"Harry Potter."

Harry turned on the spot to see five, white-robed figures lined in front of him. They had an all-powerful presence like he'd never seen before and their lack of scent could only tell him one thing: this was the Powers that Be. He had never actually met them before, and knew Inuyasha had only a handful of times.

"Um...hello." He really had no idea what to say to them as they were technically his superiors.

"We know what you intend on doing..." the shortest began.

"...And we strongly advise against it," continued the female bodied one.

"There is a reason and purpose for all death," said the tallest, "It is a cycle that not even we dare to interfere with."

Harry felt a small tick go off on his right temple at the way the spoke to him like a child. Although compared to them he was a child...

"Well maybe the reason for Inuyasha's death was to wake a few people up," Harry said boldly, "Maybe he died to help us understand what kind of power we need to defeat the Beast."

"We warned Inuyasha what would happen should he fight against Voldemort."

"And yet you knew he would fall nonetheless," Harry countered. He was beginning to understand why Inuyasha became so easily annoyed at these beings, "I don't care what you have to say about this, I don't care what principles it goes against; I'm bring him back. And I'm doing it with this book."

He held up the ancient text for the beings to see. The one farthest left spoke next.

"We do not approve with your choice of action. Spell work can go wrong in many ways, as you have learned yourself. You are not quite a half-demon."

Harry shrugged.

"The spell seemed rather simplistic when I found it, but since you bothered to warn me against it, I can only assume that it will work."

"It matters not; it is against our morals."

Harry could see that they were only advising him against doing it, but they were not known for acting on their words.

"Will you try to stop me?"

The PTB gave no answer. Harry took that as a negative.

"Then I'll be on my way."

He shimmered away from their vision. The PTB stared on, where the youngest guardian ever once stood.

"We should stop him," the one on the far right stated futilely.

"Yes," agreed the tallest, "We should...but we won't. For the sake of mankind, we won't."

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Barren, red terrain; a portentous chill sweeping the land; stormy, crimson skies...now this was more like it.

Harry smiled and took a deep, refreshing breath of the ill-omened air. Humans would wet their pants if they were in his position, even demons were uncomfortable with the ominous setting, but for a Guardian...this was practically home.

A couple demons in the distance caught sight of him, froze, and then fled. Demons, no matter how stupid or how low their class was, could always recognize a guardian when they saw one. They knew better than to mess with one.

Harry knew exactly where he was going. It was a designated part of hell he'd never been in before, where the souls of the dead resided when they first departed from their body. A quick, shadow-walk later and he was in a green-tinted cavern. The moans of souls echoed off the rocky walls as greenish orbs of light swirled around in the air, purposelessly. It could have been described as beautiful if it weren't for the pitiful moaning that ran chills down his spine.

"I think you're lost, hunny."

A figure jumped in front of him—a demoness; tall and willowy, with long, shining sliver hair, pointed ears, and lavender eyes. She wore a wine-colored, satiny dress that looked as if it were welded to her figure. It flowed to the ground on one side and was bunched high on her left hip, revealing a long, smooth leg. She bore knee high leather boots and a matching black choker with two, large, leathery wings folded behind her. Harry couldn't help but notice that her scent was that of a half-demon, and it was a familiar one as well.

"Do I...know you?" Harry asked, staring at the young woman appraisingly. He had to admit she was very attractive.

"Don't you have enough of my siblings after your sweet ass without lusting after me as well?" she replied emotionlessly as he gaze lingered on her chest. Harry coughed and brought his attention back to her face. Now he knew why she looked familiar.

"You're Nadia, aren't you?"

She smiled and winked, the cold look breaking instantly; making her look more like her father and less like her uncle.

"God it in one, kiddo."

Harry scowled and would have made a remark on the 'kiddo' comment if it weren't for the fact that she was hundreds of years older than himself.

"So what brings you to my humble abode?" She asked, circling him casually.

"I just need to summon a soul and reattach it to its body...just a standard procedure," he said, trying to sound informal. She frowned.

"I'm sure with being a guardian and all that you would know the very purpose of my existence is to _not_ let people do that."

"And I'm sure, being the guardian of hell itself, you would know that it's your father's soul I'm trying to resurrect, and for the greater good, might I add."

She sighed, resigned, "Yes I know. I figured I should at least make sure you know how very wrong this is. Go on and do your thing. But if anyone asks: I tried to stop you."

Harry grinned and nodded, flipping open the book to one of the last pages.

"Good," Nadia replied, seeing him get to work, "I'll be off now. Oh, and Harry? Don't fuck this up."

"Right," Harry said, "No pressure."

He looked down at the ritual he was about to use. It really was simple and didn't require much blood. It basically transported the body to the place of the spell casting and, if the body was whole and able to function, the soul would rebind itself to the core. The hard part about this spell was getting in and out of hell. What are the odds that the only two people able to use this magic would be guardians as well?

Harry laid the book down and made two, deep slits on his wrists. He began to trace a pattern in the rocky ground with his blood coated fingers, copying the book symbol for symbol.

"_Arcesso prolixi Inuyasha Julian Black Nagasaki—Guardian of the seventh gate!_" He muttered as the rune he was creating began to glow.

One green-tinted ball of light shot out from the millions floating around him and began circling over the blood runes.

"_Refero cuius inexpugnabilis..._"

The soul began circling faster, creating a humming noise. Harry threw both hands downward across the emblem, leaving two, thick lines of blood.

"_Nequam atqui nocens...adustum atqui acerbus...offero corporis!" _

The soul began to take a form—lengthening and darkening...

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Sesshomaru looked up at the ceiling from where he was seated at the island in the kitchen. There was something not right; something that had to do with his deceased brother.

In less than a second he was in the master bedroom where his brother's body was laid across the bed and was slowly fading from sight. Alarmed, Sesshomaru reached forth with a clawed hand, trying desperately to stop the body from leaving. His fingers managed to grasp air, falling through the now rapidly vanishing body.

He had in fact tried numerous times before to use Tenseiga on his brother's still body, to no effect. He could neither see the death imps nor the chains, much to his confusion. He could only hope that this would somehow bring his brother back to him as the body completely disappeared from sight. Not only because they needed him to fight this Beast character, but also because he was his brother. As much as he tried to hide it, he did indeed care for his brother, and sometimes had to stop himself from thinking back on the pain he caused him as a pup.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Something caught in his fingers, something papery and light. Curious, Sesshomaru brought the mysterious object to his face. It was a small piece of paper, folded neatly in the grip of his fingers. The demon lord opened it, careful not to rip it with his claws.

'_Thanks for caring'_

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

"_Reverti hic olim..._"

Before Harry was Inuyasha's complete body, still in the very clothes he died in with an ethereal green glow pulsing around it.

"_...reverti pridem infinitio,_" he finished in a whisper. Harry held his breath, staring at the still body. Nothing happened for a moment; Inuyasha's heart didn't beat, his blood didn't warm...

Then amber eyes fluttered open and Harry felt his throat constrict with overwhelming emotion as the slow, steady beat of a heart reached his demonic ears. Inuyasha shot up into a sitting position taking a large, fresh gulp of air. Harry resisted the urge to hug him, not wanting to alarm Inuyasha any further as the hanyou took in his surroundings with wide eyes and heavy breathing. After a few moments he calmed down and looked up at Harry who stood above him with bleeding wrists and shining eyes. Inuyasha's gaze went from Harry to the rune he was sitting on, to the soul-infested cavern, and back to Harry.

"Harry...?" Inuyasha said in a slow, questioning tone. His voice was quiet as he gazed up at the wizard lost and confused. His fluffy, white ears drooping a bit, making him look just like a puppy. Harry grinned and held out a hand, which Inuyasha took, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Harry," Inuyasha said again, this time with something akin to amusement.

"What?" Harry asked, a smile playing on his lips even though he didn't understand what was so funny. He couldn't get over the fact that Inuyasha was standing right in front of him..._alive_. The freaking spell had worked.

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes alight with amusement.

"Forgotten what?"

"—Otherwise you wouldn't be standing so close to me."

"What are you—? Mmhmm!"

Inuyasha had suddenly leaned forward and cut Harry off by pressing his lips against the younger man's—holding both of his biceps in his grip to keep him from escaping. Harry's eyes shot wide open at the contact and he struggled, pushing futilely against Inuyasha's chest.

"INUYASHA!" He cried out outraged once he freed himself. He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and spat on the ground. Inuyasha skipped backwards laughing hysterically.

"I told you I'd get my kiss!"

"You are SO FUCKING DEAD!" Harry screamed at him. Inuyasha turned and ran for his _life_.

"After all that work resurrecting me?"

"Shut the fuck up!"

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

HAHAHAHA! There's that kiss! Hehe, this will not be slash, I just had to add it for my own sick pleasure. You know you liked it.

Nadia is a character who will be appearing in RTR. Well...not really. Oh, snap, it's hard to explain, you'll see one day—all you must know is that Inuyasha sired the custodian of hell.

Anyhoo, I did a lot of skipping around in this one just to give you all a general idea as to what's going on with everyone—that's why the chapter's so long. Thanks for the reviewies! Kiss kiss kiss!

On a very happy note...Pig Run this weekend! Hurrah!


	11. Forgive and Forget

**Chapter 11**

"Hello Family!"

Bridget, being the only one in the kitchen at the time, walked strait into the counter as her father popped in out of nowhere. She slowly took in the image of her father who was a little scuffed up and still in the clothes she last saw him in. Instead of being on a bed, still as the dead, he was standing in front of her, looking as healthy as an ox and smiling extravagantly.

"Daddy?" she whispered hopefully. She knew it wasn't a trick again because the familiar scent and his very semblance confirmed it. She rushed forwards and threw herself in his arms, not holding back the tears as her father knelt down and showered her face with kissed.

"You were dead!" she cried, clinging to his neck as he rocked her back and forth trying to shush her, "I was so scared you were gone forever! When Harry said you were dead and the book was gone I—I..."

"Shhh, it's fine baby, I'm here," Inuyasha murmured. Even though he had been dead for the last few days and didn't remember anything that happened in that whole time frame, he still missed his children dearly.

"Dad!"

Alaina, hearing her sister's outburst, came to kitchen only to see her father alive and well. She ran forward as well, giving Inuyasha just enough time to stand, lifting her nine year old sister on his hip before she hit his side in a massive hug.

"Oh my god..." she mumbled into his shirt, feeling him leave a kiss on the top of her head, "that son of a bitch did it...I can't believe you're back..."

"Inuyasha...?"

Inuyasha looked up to see his brother standing in the doorway appearing as poised as ever except for the uncharacteristic look of utter confusion marking his features. It would probably be the only time such a look crossed that face.

"Give me freaking hug you dick!" Inuyasha growled at his dumbstruck brother. When his brother made no move to hug him Inuyasha scowled.

"Fine, then—"

"You fucking _prat!_" The four occupants of the room jumped as Harry appeared in the kitchen, breaking up the happy reunion.

"Oh, so you've found me, huh?" Inuyasha said pleasantly, gently lowering Bridget to the ground and holding her in front of him incase Harry tried something.

"Yeah," Harry said shortly, "I figured after having me chase you through Italy, Scandinavia, and Greenland you might have tried your own home."

Inuyasha grinned cheekily at him and Harry glowered.

"What's your problem?" Bridget asked, "Aren't you happy he's alive? You succeeded in reviving him didn't you?"

"Yes," Harry ground out through clenched teeth, "And I soon regretted it."

"What did he do?" Alaina asked, knowing her father well enough. Harry flushed.

"He-he-" he didn't exactly want to spread it around. However, Inuyasha had other ideas.

"Yeah, come on Harry...what _did_ I do?" he goaded with a grin.

Harry swallowed.

"Hemhhsmer," he mumbled inaudibly.

"I what?" Inuyasha asked lightly.

"He kissed me," Harry said louder, glaring at the inu. Sesshomaru was the first to break the silence with a loud, undignified snort, which turned into a full blown laugh. Alaina rolled her eyes; she should have known.

"Dad!" Bridget said angrily, trying not to muster an angry look on her face. Inuyasha patted her on the head.

"S-sorry hunny, I know he's yours."

"W-what?" Harry sputtered angrily, "I am not hers!"

"Keep telling yourself that, hunny-buns," Bridget imposed dryly. Alaina giggled at the age-old argument.

"Right...so give me the 411 on this Beast guy," Inuyasha stated.

"He's a creation of Voldemort and Naraku and has left much of Europe in ruins; he neither sleeps nor eats. Humans, both magic and non-magic, are fighting to stop him but cannot seem to leave a dent in his trail. The only one who has managed to inflict any damage would be this idiot," Sesshomaru explained while gesturing to Harry. Inuyasha raised his eyebrows in Harry's direction.

"Hey, I was fucked up because you were dead asshole."

"So what? I died and the first thing you can think of is to jump into things head first?"

"I was trying to handle things your way."

Inuyasha glared at him for a moment before shrugging, "Fair enough."

Harry sighed, "Now we have to get the book away from them and figure out how we're going to beat him properly."

"Speaking of which," Inuyasha said, "don't you have a book to return?"

"Oh crap..." Harry muttered, before shadow-walking back to the Higurashi well.

Bridget hugged her father again; making sure it was really him.

"You know what dad? I believe you about those pirate stories now!"

"About time," Inuyasha growled playfully, ruffling her hair. The grin died off his face as an all too familiar scent reached his nose.

"Did you guys...?" he trailed, lifting his nose to the air.

"Did we what?" Alaina asked, stepping back from her father, knowing not to get in the way when he smelled something.

"Yes they did," Sesshomaru answered his unfinished question, having smelt it as well.

"What did we do?" Alaina asked as Bridget looked at the two brother's confusedly.

"Then how did...?"

"Kouga."

"Oh," Inuyasha said, quieting for a moment. Alaina opened her mouth to ask one more time what the hell they were talking about, but her father dashed out of the house before she could make a sound.

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

"Wow...so this is where he lives?" Kagome asked Kouga as the two of them arrived at the impressive house, clean-cut and inviting. It was certainly bigger than what Kagome was used to and the neighborhood was just as tasteful, "I guess he'd done well for himself."

Kouga nodded, "Yeah, I guess considering..."

He stopped talking as a very familiar scent reached his nose, one that was coming strongly from the house. He began sniffing the air, his eyes growing wide.

"Considering what? What's wrong? Do you smell something?" Kagome asked, not missing the twitch on his nose that she'd seen on Inuyasha's many times before when something was smelt.

"He's..._no way_..."

Kouga took a step forward towards the door, almost in a daze.

"'No way' what? Kouga tell me what the hell is going on!" Kagome said angrily, cursing her human senses. Kouga spared her a look.

"He's alive. I can smell him."

"Alive? You can't mean—"

The front door opened with a bang, and an inu hanyou jumped to their spot in one leap. Kagome had no time to react as Inuyasha pulled her to his body. He wasted no time in capturing her lips in a searing kiss, grasping the back of her hair with one hand and cupping her face with the other. She put up no fight, having furtively wanted this for years. Instead she kissed him back with just as much vigor, clutching the sleeves of his shoulders tightly as his arms slipped around her waist.

"O...k..." Kouga said slowly, stepping back from the couple. He had expected somewhat of a teary reunion between the two, maybe even some yelling—but not for them to start necking. Then again, in the last couple of centuries he'd known Inuyasha, he had learned to expect the unexpected from him.

After a few moments, Inuyasha and Kagome slowly pulled apart, each drinking in the other's appearance, noting the changes and similarities since they last saw each other.

"Hey," Inuyasha murmured quietly. Kagome blushed as his brilliant ocher eyes caught her own; she relished in the deepness of his voice, sounding far older than she remembered.

"Hey..." she whispered back. They needed no more words—forgiveness was a silent message; the break up, the harsh words, the last five years...all had been forgotten. They both slowly leaned in for another kiss.

"Oh I see how it is," Harry said, just appearing next to Kouga in a swirl of smoke and looking quite cross. Inuyasha and Kagome pulled away from each other slightly flushed, "You kiss me and then run off to her? Fucking ass..."

Kouga blinked, staring at the slightly shorter man.

"He kissed you?"

"I think we should get inside so you can meet everyone," Inuyasha said to Kagome, keeping one arm around her waist. She nodded in agreement; very excited to see how everyone had changed over the years.

"The only person she can meet is Sesshomaru," Harry said, "Shippo and everyone else left to deal with shit. I don't know where they are, they're just not here."

"Well then tell them to get their asses over here. We need to figure out what we're doing about this whole...situation."

"Fine," Harry groused, "I be the freaking messenger boy!"

A swirl of smoke and he was gone.

"Is he mad?" Kagome asked worriedly. Inuyasha grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, he just hasn't gotten laid in a while."

Kagome giggled and leaned into his side.

"We have a lot to catch up on."

"Yes we do," Inuyasha grinned smiling down at her. He couldn't understand why simply her presence made him so happy. He had spent years slowly erasing her from his life, blocking out the pain in his heart, and just one look at her and those walls shattered as if they were made of glass.

"You kissed him?" Kouga asked, staring at Inuyasha as if he were insane. Inuyasha gave him a slow, lazy grin before leading Kagome into the house. Kouga shook his head sadly and followed them inside. He was beginning to share Sesshomaru's sentiments on that man's sanity.

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Yes, this is now officially Inu/Kag. Some may be happy, some may be upset, and some may want Inuyasha to kiss Harry again. You're going to see in later chapters that Harry and Inuyasha like to pretend to be mad at each other a lot—do not be alarmed, they aren't really angry; they just want excuses to yell and swear.

Short chapter, I know, the next will be longer and more fun!

Thanks for the reviews!


	12. Where's that darn book?

**Chapter 12**

For hundreds of miles throughout Great Britain all that could be seen was abandoned, smoldering ruins of what used to be booming cities and peaceful suburban land. Muggles, wizards, and demons fled the country leaving it even more desolate. The beast had moved as if it were a plague, destroying anything that came into its path almost purposelessly and mindlessly. But what the humans could not see, what wizards could not see, was that there was a purpose. The Beast was not stupid; it was simply drawing out the only thing that posed a threat to it: the parallel soul.

The mass of withering tentacles that the world pronounced as the Beast was not in fact its true form. Its true form lay dormant inside the accumulation; holding the real power that was Naraku and Voldemort at their finest. But this form was unable to be released until a union of sorts occurred—information that even the Beast was unaware of.

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Kagome had surprisingly done well in accepting Inuyasha's many children and different lifestyles; which had proven to the ones that knew her before that she had indeed grown up.

Her relationship with Inuyasha was slow at the moment; although it was only five years for her, it had been nearly five hundred for him, so they hadn't done much more than talk, make out and some light groping—not that they could afford to do more due to the their current situation with the Beast. The initial kiss was still etched in her mind; the moment she felt his lips on her's every heart-fluttering, stomach-twisting, knee-weakening sensation she used to get at the mere sight of him returned full throttle. Despite their separation, the feelings she had locked inside herself for him only seemed to grow in his absence. She knew she loved him; this sure as hell wasn't any kind of crush. But what was even better was that he loved her too—there wasn't any Kikyo around to cause confusion and he was no longer a pubertal adolescent. He loved her more than any woman he ever married or any woman he ever had children with; his youkai told him so. He loved her enough to take her as a mate and she knew it...but that was where the problem lay.

"_I can't," _he would always say when she brought it up._ "You know I want to more than anything else; my youkai is screaming for me to. But I just can't. Not until the Beast is killed and things are peaceful again."_

"_I don't want to wait that long!" _It was how she always started her argument.

"_If I die, you would die shortly after! I can't take you as my mate knowing that the chances of me surviving this right now are at a very low percentage."_

The same reason every time, and she would give the same answer.

"_I don't care if I die! You think I want to live without you after getting you back in my life? I will not loose you again!"_

But matters of the heart were over shadowed by the ones terrorizing the world. The entire human population was buzzing with distress. Schools and businesses were shutting down left and right; people were being drafted for military purposes—though now in the twenty first century women were being called in too. Muggles were probably the most overwhelmed out of everyone for it was a recent slap in the face to see an entire hidden society of magic uprooted from under their noses.

Situations had soon gone from bad to worse. The world was in chaos; if it wasn't bad enough that wizards were exposed now there were suddenly demons running rampant all over England—helping to further empty the land. It wouldn't be long before the terror escaped the island. This had confused Harry immensely, for as a guardian of hell he knew that the demons were not escaping by way of a forced opening. The only conclusion he could draw from this was that one of the other guardians letting them out willingly.

The answer to that came quickly enough within the day it was broadcasted.

"Potter!"

Harry walked into the home office where Inuyasha was standing over the desk, a diet coke in his hand and a scowl on his face.

"Hey," Harry said brightly, hopping up and taking the can out of the angry hanyou's clutch, "you found my drink!"

Inuyasha, if anything, looked angrier and pointed to the desk where wet rings on the many papers were prominent.

"What have I told you about using my post-its as a coaster? Look! Look at that! It erases my notes!"

"I'm sorry!" Harry said frowning, "But I don't want to put it on the wood so it seemed like the next best thing."

"No! _Don't do it!_ BAD! I should stick your nose in this and—and slap you!"

"Slap me!" Harry challenged, putting his drink back on the table, "Go ahead—"

Bridget walked in the room.

"—Slap me!"

Bridget walked out of the room.

"It's not what you think honey," Inuyasha called out lazily.

"I don't want to know!" Her voice called back. Inuyasha sighed and shook his head.

"Ever since I kissed you..."

"Please," Harry said with raised hands, "Let's not bring that up."

Inuyasha pouted, "I thought it was a nice kiss."

"Shut up," Harry sighed, "Now what do you want? I know you didn't call me in here to talk about post it notes...wait a minute...these aren't notes! These are doodles!"

Inuyasha grinned, "Don't be jealous of my ninja drawing skills. Actually, I just wanted an excuse to yell a lot."

"Why you—"

"—moving on," Inuyasha cut off Harry before he could get riled up further, "I think I have some most tragic news."

"What?"

"Um...I'm not a guardian of hell anymore."

"WHAT?" Harry yelled, praying the man was joking.

"Yeah..." Inuyasha said gravely, "see why I wanted to yell?"

"Inuyasha!" Harry cried angrily, "Shut up and stop joking around. Why aren't you the guardian anymore? Did your gate fall again?"

"No," Inuyasha sighed and sat down, "I'm pretty sure Nar—the Beast took over it. That would explain why demons are pouring out all over the world now; he's letting them out. That and I haven't been able to open the gate since I felt the bond sever."

"So you're telling me the Beast overtook your gate today," Harry recapped, trying to stay calm and not let the panic that was bubbling up inside him take over.

"Harry..." Inuyasha began, "I know you were a bit of a special case...but do you know the standard procedure for taking the guardianship of a gate?"

"Um...no?"

"Either you kill the former guardian or they pass it on to you willingly."

"Are you trying to tell me," Harry began slowly in a dangerously low voice, "that the Beast has had control over the seventh gate ever since you were killed?"

"I've only been alive for a couple of days," Inuyasha said weakly in his defense.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Harry growled vehemently.

"I've been stressing over it in my mind."

Harry quieted for a moment to pet one of Inuyasha's puppy ears; rubbing the soft, satiny appendages always helped to calm him down. He could understand how his friends from the wizarding world became so frustrated with him for bottling things up.

"You're going to give yourself a brain tumor. Tell me these things, ok?"

"Yes mom," Inuyasha muttered, relaxing into the touch. The only people who were allowed to touch his ears who weren't related to him were Harry and Kagome; and neither of them took that privilege for granted.

"Am I interrupting something?" an amused voice at the doorway asked. The two men looked up to see Kagome standing there, looking pretty with her long hair up in a messy bun that littered her shoulders with loose tendrils. She had chosen to put college on hiatus for the time being (no doubt it would be closed soon anyway) in favor of staying with Inuyasha.

"Yes bitch," Inuyasha growled, rolling over to her on the wheeled chair he was sitting in and pulling her into his lap. She giggled and tickled his ear a little.

"I think I'm going to name these..."

If there was one change she absolutely loved with her more mature hanyou, it was that he didn't mind her petting his ears.

"Back to the drawing board..." Harry said, "We need the book and we need to get you back in control of that gate—then we can kick his ass."

"Well I can't get the gate unless I kill the Beastie," Inuyasha said, "So basically our priority is to get the book back; figure out what spell they used to combine, and see if we can reverse it."

"Alright then we have a plan!" Harry grinned, "Finally."

Kagome frowned at this.

"Do either of you even know where the book is?"

"No," he two men answered simply.

Kagome moaned and buried her head into Inuyasha's neck.

"We're really screwed on this one aren't we?"

"Yup," the duel voices replied.

"Will you two stop doing that?"

"Sorry."

"Arrgh!" Kagome cried, throwing her hands up in frustration. She had half a mind to personally wipe the identical smirks on the two demi-demon's faces when a quiet knock was heard from the frame of the doorway.

"Um..." Alaina said awkwardly, holding up a phone. While she was glad her father had found his mate, she still found it somewhat weird to see him so involved with a woman—she certainly couldn't recall a time when he looked at her mother in such a way. "It's for you dad."

Inuyasha slid out from under Kagome while turning human in the process. Talking on the phone was much easier when one's ears were on the side of the head. Kagome watched him leave the room, still fascinated with how he managed that at will. Inuyasha plucked the phone from his daughter's hands with a saucy grin and pranced into the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hello Inuyasha."

"Ah!" Inuyasha said pleasantly into the receiver, recognizing the sultry, feminine voice, "Kagura. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea where that book you need is..."

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Score, book finding time! We'll have some Inu/Harry vs. beastie action next chapter.

Thanks so much for the reviews! I've gotten some really good ones that help me fight that nasty writers block, so thanks guys!


	13. Retrieving What Was Theirs

**Chapter 13**

"So what's the deal with you and Inuyasha?" Kagome asked Harry after a short moment of silence from Inuyasha's departure. Harry stared at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why do you live with him? Did he adopt you or something?"

"Sort of," Harry replied, "I kind of forced my way into the family. He saved me, so I stay with him."

"Saved you from what?" Kagome asked, pulling her legs up in the chair so she was sitting cross-legged in it. Harry leaned back in his own and shrugged.

"From everything I suppose; from a life of manipulations and lies and loneliness...from myself. He's my best friend. Besides, he wouldn't let me leave if I wanted to—I can cook better than him."

Kagome smiled softly at his answer, "He was always a great guy. I was an idiot to let him get away the first time."

She stared off wistfully, no doubt imagining what her life would have been like had things been different. Harry watched as a sadness crept into her grey-blue eyes. Her relationship with Inuyasha confused him. In the few years he had known Inuyasha he had noticed that he managed to keep a certain detachment to the women he saw, including Moira. He treated them nicely enough—flirted with them, surprised them—but he never really let them into his heart. Then this girl comes along and suddenly Inuyasha is turned into a love-sick puppy...so to speak. Conversely, Harry never really heard what was up with the relationship they once shared as teenagers.

"Score! I have some sweet news!" Inuyasha yelled, sliding into the room, "Kagura called; she's pretty sure she knows where the book is."

"Kagura?" Kagome asked wide eyed, "The wind sorceress?"

"Nice," Harry grinned, "Where?"

"Inside the Beastie!" Inuyasha said happily, dropping the phone on the desk carelessly. Kagome was still slightly unsure if they were talking about the same Kagura she was thinking of so didn't reply to this. Harry looked at him suspiciously.

"Inside him? In?" he asked to confirm it.

"Yes, in."

"Okay..." Harry said. He had certainly heard weirder things, "and how are we going to get it _outside_ him?"

"Well..." Inuyasha began, sounding as if he had already thought up some sort of preparation, "I was thinking first we feed him Shippo—"

Kagome jumped from her chair and whacked him on the arm for that.

"Or we don't feed him Shippo," Inuyasha corrected himself, "And we go fight him now and wing it."

"Sounds good!" Harry said in agreement.

"No!" Kagome interrupted them, hands on her hips, "That does not sound good. We have to think of a plan!"

Inuyasha and Harry stared at her blankly.

"A plan?" Harry said bleakly. He looked at Inuyasha who just shrugged.

"You know...a plan—a set course of action that we operate?" Kagome tried. She still received no answer.

"They are unfamiliar with that term," Sesshomaru said, stepping into the room. No matter how tolerant he seemed to the others or that he'd taken Rin, a human, as a mate, his presence still sent chills down Kagome's spine.

"Oh really?" She asked lightly, forcing down her unease. She refused to appear unnerved in front of the demon lord, "And what term are they familiar with?"

"Idiocy," Sesshomaru stated vacantly.

"All right!" Inuyasha beamed, seeming unaware to the insult, "To Ireland!"

The other three stared at him as though he were mad.

"Ireland?"

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"This thing has spread to Ireland now...we don't know how it moved across the ocean," Cho Chang, age 20, stated to the Order of the phoenix assembled before her. She had joined as soon as she heard about the movement to stop the Beast, wanting to make whatever contribution she could at ridding the world of the abomination.

"It took care of the UK in a few short days. Ireland will be nothing to it. And then what?" Neville asked, looking around the room.

"Then it moves to the continent," Ron concluded, "It will take over Europe, seeing as it's the closest."

Dumbledore sighed and massaged his temples, "It appears there is nothing that can stop this being. Muggle science and Wizard magic are proving to be quite ineffective. Not to mention these..._demons_ who are terrorizing humans all over the world in the most merciless manner...even young mister Potter seems to have given up."

McGonagall placed a sympathetic hand on the ancient wizard's shoulder, wishing there was something she could do to lighten the load on him.

"Wrong sir!" Tonks said, hurrying into the room with an excited, if not slightly apprehensive look on her face, "We've just received news that Potter is battling the creature as we speak..."

The bleak mood of the meeting room broke at this news; animated and hushed murmurs hummed.

"How do we know Potter isn't the one behind the demon attacks? I mean, he is a demon himself isn't he?" Hestia Jones asked. It had been a bit of an issue with the Order: which side was Potter really on?

"No," Hermione spoke up through clenched teeth, "We've—I've—made the mistake of doubting him before. He is still a person and he's a good one at that."

"I agree with Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, "If there's one thing this old codger can still do, it is to learn from my own mistakes."

"Then we'll send a group of us to the location of the battle in hopes of persuading Potter to join us," Shacklebolt decided, "It's obvious Potter knows more about the situation than we do, and if we're going to defeat this thing then we need his cooperation."

"I'll go," Hermione said immediately, "He will probably respond better to people he's more familiar with."

"I'll go as well," Neville said.

"And me," said Ginny.

"Me too," Cho said quietly. She wasn't present for Harry's grand return but she had seen repeats on the television, and her curiosity about her ex was spiked.

"I should go too," said Ron after a bit of an internal debate. He honestly didn't know how Harry would react to him; if he recalled correctly there had been an implicit hostility between the two for a while before they ended their friendship.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, "But I do not want any of you fighting in this battle. It is quite apparent that magic has next to no affect on it, so leave the fighting to Mr. Potter. If you cannot manage to approach him, then we will leave this mission for another day. Agreed?"

The former DA members all nodded before apparating from the room.

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A monstrous tentacle crashed down upon a twelve story structure, sending rubble and cement crashing to the ruined streets below.

"Oh my..." Kagome breathed. She had seen the beast on TV from a helicopter's point of view (No cameraman was willing to get within a shot of it) but seeing this...monstrosity in front of her was just terrifying. The box certainly didn't do the Beast any justice.

"Is there really any point to that?" Harry asked no one in particular as the beast shredded an emptied building.

"He's making a statement, man," Inuyasha said with a grin. Harry flashed him a grin back before, much to the shock of the young female besides them, leaping off the roof of the building they were standing on and onto a burly tentacle of the beast. The light contact was enough to alert the Beast of his presence.

"_Potter,_" the duel voices growled before showering the teen with the sharpened points of multiple tentacles. Harry nimbly dodged them, much to the frustration of the chimera. Whereas their last encounter Harry was slowed by his battle-worn state and emotional disorder, now he was rejuvenated and secure. Harry made four long scratches into each arm with his claw, sufficiently wetting them with his deadly blood, before letting loose a barrage of attacks to complement his speed.

"He's fast," Kagome admitted as she watched the young demi-demon flip and twist through the offending appendages, taking them out nearly as quickly as they re-grew.

"He learns from the best," Inuyasha said, giving her a cocky grin that reminded her of his younger days. Down below a spiked tentacle whipped forward, managing to catch Harry's right hip and swing him through a window of the very building they were standing on. He was back up in no time, fighting with more vehemence.

"Apparently not fast enough," Kagome said dryly. She realized a second too late that she was talking to nobody.

"Huh? Inuyasha—?" She looked down off the edge of the building to see a tentacle explode seconds before it struck Harry from behind. Inuyasha landed easily, looking up into the Beast's face.

The Beast stared with wide, crimson eyes at the very man he had killed weeks before.

"You live?" it hissed; a snake-like tongue flickering out of its mouth, "How is this possible?"

"Look who's talking," Inuyasha muttered bitterly.

"The book is definitely in him," Harry grunted to Inuyasha after he pulled himself up from a recent fall. Inuyasha nodded, sensing it as well.

"I'll go. If he's anything like Naraku then he can absorb things into his body to make him stronger."

"Are you sure you can get back out?" Harry asked, concerned.

Inuyasha just gave him a look as though he were stupid.

"Never mind," the young man muttered.

"Is he insane?" Kagome asked no one in particular, nearly hysterical as she watched her intended mate approach the Beast with no opposition, "He'll never get out of there!"

She took a step forward as though to stop him when a clawed hand grabbed her arm. She knew it was Sesshomaru before she even turned, sensing his demonic energy arrive by whatever means. She turned her head sharply to see him looking down at her.

"You forget miko," he said lowly, "he is not the same weak half-breed you once knew him to be."

Kagome glared up into his cold, ocher eyes and tore her arm from his grip.

"_I_ never thought he was weak. But this isn't just Naraku he's dealing with; it's much stronger."

Sesshomaru merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"I am not about to repeat myself," he said before turning back to the scene below him. He had been warned by his brother not to interfere until necessary, for by the fates it could very well mean his demise. He had learned early on that when it came to destiny his brother seemed to know what he was talking about.

"What is this little half-breed?" the Beast chuckled in a raw, spurning voice as Inuyasha arrived calmly within yards of it "You want to be a part of my collection?"

Inuyasha said nothing, keeping up the calm façade. But on the inside he was jittery with excitement, having felt the pulse of his beloved book from within the creature.

"If you insist..."

No less than five or six tentacles shot out from the Beast's lower half and wrapped around Inuyasha's body. Kagome's fists involuntarily clenched, wanting nothing more than to dispel the tentacles that were now becoming pliable, sucking Inuyasha into the form with no resistance. Within seconds the inu hanyou was no longer in sight.

Harry stood strongly in front of the assailant, wondering how long it would take Inuyasha to make it back out...or how he was going to manage that at all.

"You should do as your mentor did, foolish child," Naraku and Voldemort taunted the lone boy who dared to stand up to it; "He could see that he was fighting a loosing battle. It is hopeless. Join me and you will no longer bear the burden of protecting these insignificant creatures. Join me and be a part of something far greater than you could ever imagine..."

"Spare me," Harry spat, leaping from the ground in a flip, crossing both arms and swiping them diagonally forwards and sending ten sickles of blood into the mass of extremities. Somewhere in his subconscious was the concern that he might hit Inuyasha in there, but he quickly blocked those thoughts and focused on attacking the Beast. As if anything _he_ could dish out would hurt Inuyasha.

"Perhaps you've forgotten my newest ability," The Beast grinned, waxy skin shining in the dull light of the looming twilight. Harry could hear the ground shifting before the small tremble reached the soles of his feet. It wasn't the familiar ominous chill that warned him of what was to come, but the small tremble the originated in his sternum that told him an opening was made to hell...and another...and another...

Demons began rising from the ground as the Beast literally spread and divided the seventh gate of hell so that demons were pulled forth from the fiery abyss and set loose on human soil in different spots surrounding the youth.

From the rooftop both Kagome and Sesshomaru were finding it difficult to hide their concern about the state of affairs below.

"We really need to help him," Kagome whispered to herself.

"I fear I may before to agree with you, ningen," Sesshomaru murmured as his calculating eyes swept the site. With his brother incapacitated and his apprentice preoccupied with the new arrivals, the odds didn't seem in their favor.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Kagome turned and gave the tall demon a foul look, "My name is Kagome. Use it."

Whatever cutting comment Sesshomaru was about to let forth was cut off by an outraged Beast.

"What? I am calling you forth!" The Beast seemed to be straining itself with trying to open his gate to his will. Despite his best efforts the demons continued to fall back into the openings as they closed up on themselves. The furious crimson eyes caught brilliant green ones.

"I've got the upper hand on you this time Tom," Harry said with a superior grin. The Beast could not possibly fully understand nor control a gate of hell in the short time it had with it. Even with Harry's limited time as a guardian he knew enough to override the Beast's choice of location for opening a gate; though it did take a bit of effort on his part.

"Arrogance, Potter," Voldemort's specific voice hissed back. While Harry was focusing on closing the holes, the Beast had taken the initiative to attack him while his defenses were down.

A burst of pink light later and ten withering tentacles fell to the cracked pavement of the Irish streets of Cork. Harry looked up stunned as he saw Kagome standing on the ledge of the building, fearless, another arrow notched and ready to fly. But what shocked him more was that the tentacles she struck didn't grow back. They seemed to be trying, but the spiritual powers of the arrow canceled out the magical re-growth factor that Voldemort contributed.

"Brilliant!" Harry called out; turning back to the many demons he still had to send back, "Keep it up!"

Beast let out a snake-like hiss and focused on the woman firing down on him. While her reflexes here fast for a human, she simply couldn't send out enough arrows to match the amount of tentacles he dealt to her. Before they could come within ten feet of her a giant, white dog with a crescent moon adorned on the forehead leapt over her figure and bore down on the appendages, tearing them apart with razor like teeth.

Harry make quick work with the rest of the demons and, after finding no more resistance to his closing the gate openings, turned back to the fight where the combined efforts of Kagome's sacred arrows and Sesshomaru's true form slowly over powered the Beast's tentacles.

It was clear to Harry that the creature was quickly become frustrated with its current situation. A brief stroke of luck was granted to the Beast when Kagome ran out of arrows and was forced to use her remaining strength to hold up a barrier to protect herself.

Powered by a burst of rage, the Beast did three things in quick succession. Using the majority of its remaining tentacles, Sesshomaru was struck hard and pierced, letting out a feral howl of pain before being forced to revert to his human form. The Beast then managed to grab Harry with one, large, leathery tentacle, enclosing his arms and squeezing. It didn't take Harry long to realize that he was being sucked into the mass, soon to be another addition to the collection of demons within. The last tentacles shot out and knocked out a good portion of the foundation of the building Kagome was perched on. While her spiritual shield could protect her from demonic beings, it would do nothing to save her from the impact she was about to face as the building crumbled beneath her feet.

Harry could only watch as Inuyasha's mate neared the ground at an alarming speed. He wanted desperately to break free of the hold and save her, or at least turn away, but he seemed to be frozen in horror as her screams reached his ears. Sesshomaru too tried to fight the tentacles that were pulling him within the body, but with multiple wounds inflicted on him while in his true form left him drained and cursing his position.

Kagome closed her eyes as her stomach flew up into her throat, trying to accept her fate in the few seconds she had left. She needn't have bothered, for halfway through her decent a figure exploded forth from the center of the Beast. A gaping hole was left just below the torso as Inuyasha caught Kagome bridal style and brought her safely to the ground.

The Beast roared in confusion, caught completely off guard by Inuyasha's escape. Harry took this opportunity to sink his fangs into the tentacle closing in around his head. The Beast all but threw him from its grip as though shocked, reeling back and screaming in pain.

"You got it?" Harry called to Inuyasha the second in feet touched on the ground. Inuyasha broke away from the lip lock had Kagome pulled him in for saving her and held up the book.

"It's a mess in there...what the hell did you do to him?" Inuyasha gestured to the Beast who continued to hiss and moan in pain.

"Well...I poisoned him," Harry started, spitting out the vile black blood that clung to the walls of his mouth. Kagome looked up and noticed the veins in many of the Beast's tentacles were now pulsing with an ominous silver glow that seemed to be slowly spreading though its body.

"You didn't swallow any thing did you?" Inuyasha asked sharply.

"No," Harry replied with a glare, "I'm not stupid."

"Debatable." Sesshomaru stated walking up to them as if he weren't bleeding profusely in multiple areas. Thankfully for the pure-breed's pride, everyone present knew better than to outright acknowledge his injuries. A sudden and deafening crack managed to shock them all.

"That fucker," Inuyasha growled, glaring at the now empty grounds before him.

"What happened?" Kagome asked, wide eyed as she turned her head in all directions. How could a creature so large just...disappear?

"He apparated," Harry said dejected, "Well, at least we got the book."

"Apparated?" Kagome asked, looking at Inuyasha for an answer. The hanyou had reverted to his human form and was digging in the city's rubble for a rock. He then pulled a thin, wooden stick from within his sleeve.

"A form of travel for wizards," he replied absentmindedly, "Most likely Voldemort's contribution's doing...you've seen Alaina do it before. _Portus_."

Kagome watched enthralled as the rock glowed briefly before returning to normal. The wizarding world fascinated her to no end; and the fact that Inuyasha was a wizard only made it all the more interesting.

"Kagome, Sess, I want you to take this back to my house. Harry and I have some business to attend to but we'll be back later."

He tossed the rock to them, which Sesshomaru deftly caught with no question, lightly touching Kagome's shoulder before disappearing less than a second later, a surprised look frozen on the priestess's face.

"Business?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow in Inuyasha's direction. Inuyasha grinned and shook his head with disbelief.

"You have _really_ got to learn to rely on your nose more, pup."

"Potter!"

Harry turned around to see a gaggle of his old schoolmate's several yards away, many of which he really didn't want to see. They began to make their way over to him. Panicking, he looked as if he were about to shadow walk away but Inuyasha quickly seized his arm, stopping such a thought.

"I think its time you've stopped hiding from them," he murmured to the younger man. Harry looked up at him sharply; not at all pleased with the way he phrased that.

"I haven't hidden from anyone," he hissed, wanting to leave before the approaching Order members confronted him.

"Then why were you about to run?"

Harry opened his mouth to argue that but the wizards had arrived at their side by then.

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Awesome. Another Chapter out. Sweet.

Fun thing we learned about Harry in this chapter: He has poisoned fangs! He's always had him since he'd transformed but this is the first time we've seen him use them.

And if you haven't seen the hot little comic doodle of Inu and Harry's kiss, go check it out in my profile!

Anyhoo, thanks for the reviews! I know the last to chapters were kind of dull, but now we're back into the fun crap.

R&R


	14. Order Interference

**Chapter 14**

Harry stared at the five people who he had once called his friends. In the few seconds that were spared after their arrival he managed to quickly analyze his position with each of them. Neville, who had lost quite a bit of weight and now stood a little over six feet with broad shoulders and a confident posture, was always pleasant to him. Though he did seem a little skittish around Harry after Madam Pince's murder, he didn't outright shun him as others had done.

Cho was looking as pretty as ever at twenty years. She was still short and slender, with long black hair and large almond eyes. He honestly didn't know where he stood with her at the moment; he hadn't talked to her all of his sixth year but the break up in fifth had left things awkward between them. He figured he should just view her as a neutral for now.

Next was Ginny, standing in the back next to Neville. She had cut her hair so that it brushed her shoulders and still had the stubborn, determined look that was always present on her freckled face. She was the closest person from the wizarding world that he could call a friend at the moment but three years of thinking he was dead may have damaged that.

Right in front of him was Hermione and Ron. Ron was still tall and lanky at 6'4'' with the same short, flaming red hair but was now obviously no longer adorned in second-hand robes. Hermione's bushy brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she only reached to about Ron's shoulder. He did not miss the shine on Hermione's ring finger or the close proximity at which they were standing.

But it was Ron and Hermione who had officially destroyed they're friendship. Distrust and misinterpretations may have corroded it, but it was they who walked up to him and said they thought it was too dangerous to be around him. Despite Inuyasha's preachings about how forgiveness was what set the good people apart from the great ones; he wasn't sure he would ever be able to forgive them. And if he was, he certainly would never trust them again.

Harry shot one last agitated look at the hanyou's direction and was quite dismayed to see that Inuyasha was off in his own little world; happily cradling his beloved book to his chest.

"Harry," Hermione said in a breath sounding half in awe and half hopeful. He turned his attention back to the antsy looking group. They shifted uncomfortable under his piercing demonic eyes. "We need to talk," she continued strongly, stepping from the small group, "We need your help in defeating the Beast."

"Look," Harry said, trying hard not to look directly into her eyes; he could tell that she was skilled in legilimency. Not that he was worried about his own efficiency in occlumency, but it _was_ Hermione Granger after all, "this is really something humans shouldn't involve themselves in much. Just leave it to us and you guys focus on staying out of the way."

This was apparently the wrong thing to say for the once apprehensive looks quickly turned to anger and indignation.

"Stay out of the way?" Ginny hissed, pulling forward from the group, "How can we possibly stay out of the way when people can't even go outside in fear of being torn apart by the demons that are running everywhere? We've lost half the Order to demons! Dung, Owen, Dean, Percy..." she broke off as her throat constricted with emotion.

"Where were you when all this was happening?" Ron said from behind his sister. He had vowed to give Harry a chance, despite his ties with the demons, but the young man's cold conduct towards them struck a cord with him. Hermione looked slightly panicked at her fiancé's words; she knew this was not the way to get Harry to cooperate with them given their delicate liaison.

Harry growled once more, not bothering to act more human around them just because it made them uncomfortable.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with here! This thing started long before the Beast arrived; I have been fighting since before he made his _grand appearance_," he spat.

The proclamation seemed to shock and confuse the wizards, who had up until then believed to have been one of the first on the scene. Cho was the first to recover.

"Well that's all the more reason for you to come with us!" she said, looking at him with shining, hopeful eyes, "We're in the dark here. You seem to have some idea about what's going on. Just come to one meeting and explain things to us; maybe we can work something out."

"You owe them that much," Inuyasha said lightly, speaking up for the first time.

"_I _owe them?" Harry cried outraged, turning to his friend. His anger quelled some at Inuyasha's less than furtive wink. It seemed the hanyou simply wanted some closure between the Order and Harry. Harry let some air through his teeth.

"Professor Nagasaki?" Ginny whispered, recognizing the man who spurred her to take up muggle studies years ago. Inuyasha looked at her and flashed her a rogue grin that made her knees weaken. Harry scowled up at him. It seemed he was thoroughly enjoying the lustful looks Cho, Ginny, and Hermione were sending him.

"_Kagome_," Harry conspicuously coughed into his fist. This seemed to dampen Inuyasha's spirits somewhat.

"Eh...right," Inuyasha said while composing himself, "I believe you have a portkey to bring us to the headquarters."

"Actually it was just Potter—" Ron began.

"He comes with me," Harry cut him off sharply. There was a short silence as the two men stared each other down. Neville quickly fumbled for the portkey that was in his robes, wanting to avoid any conflict that might arise between the hotheads.

"Er...here we are, everyone grab on," he said, holding out the lightly chipped teacup.

It was just by his enhanced demonic balance that Harry managed to stay standing as the ground slammed back underneath his feet. He quickly and quietly took in his surroundings, instantly noting right off the bat that what Ginny said about the dwindling number of order members was true.

Dumbledore sat in a large over-stuffed chair donning heavy bags under his eyes and seemed to have lost even more weight. McGonagall was positioned loyally at his side, appearing almost as fatigued and dilapidated as he was. There was a moth-eaten green couch with Susan Bones, Hestia Jones, and Tonks sitting on it. Lupin was leaning against the arm of the couch and rather close to Tonks; he also looked to be in a bit better condition despite the current events. Kingsley Shacklebolt was pacing the hard wood floor. He was giving off a very high strung vibe and Harry could only imagine what kind of pressure he was under being a head auror. Mad-Eye Moody stood in the corner with his arms crossed; both his eyes were fixated on Harry, scanning him for any hidden weapons and whatnot. There were a few new people who Harry didn't recognize, not that he cared to.

Everyone stared at the new comers as the two demonic beings eyed them back.

The silence was quickly broken with a loud, "Wotcher Harry!"

"Hey Tonks," Harry replied dully with a small smile. This seemed to break a bit of the tension in the air.

"Harry," Dumbledore acknowledged softly with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, "I am glad to see you are well. We've seen and heard some very interesting things about you. Perhaps you would take a sea"

"I'll stand…but can I have some water?" The aftertaste of the Beast's coppery black blood still lingered in his mouth. McGonagall quickly conjured a glass for him.

"I'll sit!" Inuyasha said brightly. He plopped down on the couch, squeezing himself in between Hestia and Susan—neither of which seemed to mind despite the fact that he had dog ears, claws and fangs.

"Who is this?" Kingsley asked the five DA members sharply while gesturing to Inuyasha. He seemed quite upset, "I told you to only bring Potter. We don't need any more demons in here."

"Harry insisted he come," Hermione stated.

"How do you know we can even trust him?" Moody rumbled from the corner.

Inuyasha just smiled and waved him off before anyone could answer.

"Inuyasha? Inuyasha Nagasaki?" The Dumbledore said, looking bewildered at his demonic appearance, "Are you the same man I hired for the muggle studies position three years ago?"

Inuyasha grinned and reverted to his human self, drawing a collective gasp from the room full of wizards.

"Yep."

"You're one of them!" Ron cried, jumping from his chair and drawing his wand, pointing it strait at Inuyasha's heart. Inuyasha had simply raised a dark eyebrow before reverting back to his hanyou form. A low growl came from Harry's throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him as he stepped in front of Inuyasha with a threatening posture. He was pissed; not only because Ron had threatened Inuyasha, but also how no one opposed to it. They simply sat in their chairs, supportive of the man's actions.

"I think you're confused as to who 'they' are," He growled to the unabashed redhead. Ron stepped up to him, meeting the challenge.

"Leave it Ron," Hermione said.

"Yes, we don't need any trouble. We brought Mr. Potter here for our assistance, not for you to butt heads with," McGonagall said briskly.

But Ron did not back down. Harry had led them to believe he was dead for the last few years, making Hermione shed tears of guilt. He had the power to kill this thing but had only challenged it twice while the terror never stopped. He was a demon; he was friends with demons...demons who had killed his friends and family. He was not going to deal with this.

"Your position is telling his demonic nature to attack you so I would step back if I were you," Inuyasha said lightly while looking at his fingernails.

"What could he possibly do?" he said mockingly, quiet but loud enough for all to hear, "Potter, you don't even have a wand—"

The next thing Ronald Weasley knew he was on the other side of the room with his front smashed against the wall; a strong arm pressed against his shoulders keeping him in place and his own right arm was twisted backwards painfully. He then heard his wand clatter to the ground, in the same spot he was once standing at before.

"I don't need a wand to smash your face into the wall," Harry growled ignoring the many wands that were trained on him at the moment. Inuyasha just sat back in his seat, thoroughly enjoying the show.

"Spot on, spot on," he said in a British accent. Susan gave him a weird look.

"Mr. Potter, would you be so kind as to release Mr. Weasley, who will take his seat quietly, and explain why you don't have your wand on you? You are still a wizard, are you not?" Dumbledore said pleasantly. Harry strengthened his occlumency shields before throwing the wizard a dirty look and stepping away from the taller man. Ron stalked angrily over to Hermione, who had summoned his wand for him.

"Alright..." Harry began uneasily. He proceeded to explain about his coming into demonhood and right into the theory of spiritual and magical energies with some less than helpful comments from Inuyasha. He gave them a brief summery about what happened with the gates of hell—leaving out Inuyasha's death—and explained exactly what the Beast was and both his and Inuyasha's connection with it.

"Wow..." Tonks breathed, finally understanding the gravity of the situation. Remus rubbed her shouldering comfortingly.

"So you're tell us," he said, "that there is nothing we can do to stop the demons from escaping hell—"

"—the other guardians are doing what they can," Harry added quickly.

"—And magic just may be fruitless against the Beast?"

"Like I said before," Harry said while looking at Ginny, "Its better if you try and stay out of it. I know you would like to avenge your friends, but you probably will just end up getting yourself killed."

"So that's why you don't carry your wand with you?" Mad-Eye asked with disapproval evident in his voice, "Because you've lost the majority of your magical energies?"

Inuyasha answered this instead while shaking his head.

"He still has the intense raw power he had as a human; he just doesn't have as much access to it. By turning part demon, the magical powers in him can only trickle out at a more common rate for a wizard—unlike before when he was considered extraordinary. The spiritual energies he has in him now has staunched the flow of his magic; But, had he been a full half-demon, it would have been blocked completely like in my case. If the occasion calls for it though, it _is_ possible for him to release a large amount of magic—so don't push it," he said while looking at Ron, but not in a malicious way.

Harry stared at Inuyasha, who was still sitting between the two women, blissfully hugging the book to his chest. He had never known that.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you come anyway?" Cho asked suddenly, "you seemed very intent on coming here earlier."

"This is technically my home..." Inuyasha said dryly while glancing around the dark setting with distaste.

"No this is Potter's house," McGonagall argued, "Sirius left it to him in the will."

"You mean the one that I never saw?" Harry replied shortly with a careless glance at Dumbledore, who had the decency to look ashamed, "Anyway, Inuyasha's right: Seniority rules."

"I'm not sure I follow," Dumbledore said, leaning forward with more attention.

Harry opened his mouth, most likely intent on telling him not all the Blacks were dead, when Inuyasha jumped from the couch and grabbed his arm.

"That is for another time. Right now I have to get home to my angry girlfriend and hungry kids."

Harry took the hint and shadow-walked both him and Inuyasha back to his house, leaving a very bewildered Order behind.

Seconds later, Inuyasha and Harry both found themselves in the warmth of the kitchen.

"See!" Inuyasha said cheerfully, slapping a very irked Harry on the back, "That wasn't so bad! Don't you feel like a great weight has been lifted off your shoulders?"

Harry could feel a tick go off on his right temple, but before he could tell Inuyasha how he _really_ felt someone else beat him to the punch.

_"Sit boy!"_

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Well...wasn't that a fun chapter of...talking...

Sorry it took a while—I've been in a bizarre mood lately and swamped with hmwk (die Spanish die)

Also, it's not that I hate Ron or anything—I'm just trying to make this in accordance to his behavior in Demon Hunter. Anyway, I'm not sure how much I should involve the Order with this, we'll see.

And I'm thinking of a good way to have Shiva make an appearance

Next chap: Kagome's going to be sorely disappointed and we will learn why Inuyasha _can_ do magic.


	15. SIT and have some brownies

**Chapter 15**

_"Sit boy!"_

A ringing silence filled the kitchen.

Harry looked from Inuyasha, who was rooted to the spot looking quite stricken, to Kagome, who seemed equally as stunned.

"Did...did she just tell you to 'sit'?" he asked, trying to make sure he heard right. Inuyasha didn't reply. Instead his shocked look melted into anger.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded, baring his fangs. Kagome blinked a couple times, coming out of her stupor and marched strait up to Inuyasha. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanked it forward and looked down at his chest. She then began patting around his neck and collarbone feverishly.

"Oi wench, answer me!" Inuyasha barked, stepping away from her onslaught. Harry backed away from the couple, totally freaked out by the disturbing behavior.

"Where's your necklace?" she said, somewhat fearful. Inuyasha frowned at her tone.

"What does it matter?" he asked back defensively.

"It just _does_ okay?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well it shouldn't! Why would you even _try_ and sit me?"

"You threw something at me and I appeared here and didn't know where the hell you were, that's why!"

"I told you I'd be back. You just can't trust me, can you?"

"What?" Kagome said, totally taken back by that statement.

"Well what is it? Do you just not feel safe around me? Is that why you want those damn beads on me?"

"Wait...I...no..." Kagome seemed to be panicking slightly, which did nothing to quell Inuyasha's anger. Since when did Inuyasha put her in _her_ place?

Harry had his back pressed against the wall, staring at the two anxiously. He'd heard them argue before, but never had he seen Inuyasha this affected by it. He felt a sudden, unexpected anger bubble inside him at Kagome.

The door bell rang, cutting the tension in the room like a knife.

"I'll get it," Inuyasha muttered with one last look at Kagome. He tossed the book to Harry, who greedily snatched it from the air, and left.

"Way to go," Harry said before he could stop himself. Kagome, who had been staring off at where Inuyasha exited the room, jumped at the sound of his voice, looking at him as though she just realized he was there.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I guess I was just startled that there was no way I could subdue him."

Harry's brows furrowed in confusion for a moment before it finally dawned on him what the whole ordeal was about.

"Wait...are you talking about those prayer beads?" He asked while absently running his fingers along the leather binding of the book and over the grooves set by Tetsuiga. The book was almost addicting and now that he had it back, he didn't want to let it go. "Why the hell would you ever want to put those on him again?"

"Oh, I don't know!" Kagome said out of frustration, brushing her bangs off her forehead with both her palms, "What about when he's out of control?"

Harry stared at her in angry disbelief.

"Out of control?" he echoed, "You mean like when he refuses to wear trousers on Labor Day? Because that's not a reason to smash his face in the ground," he finished in a growl.

"I didn't—that's not—" she broke off seeming lost.

"I think you need to reevaluate the situation here. Inuyasha is not a _dog_, nor is he a child. He's four hundred eighty one years old."

"But—"

"If you knew Inuyasha half as well as I do then I should think you would know how fragile his trust is," Harry continued strongly, "I knew he was getting into this thing too fast for his own good."

"What, no!" Kagome cried, distressed. She _did_ know how brittle Inuyasha's trust was. It took her nearly a year to gain it before she broke it once. Now he gave it to her freely and she practically through it back in his face. She paled dramatically as the gravity of the situation dawned on her.

Harry saw this, and despite his loyalty to Inuyasha, felt something akin to pity for her.

"Look," he sighed, "Inuyasha is big on forgiveness. If you go talk to him now and if you really start to take the time to get to know him, I'm sure you can work things out."

Kagome nodded looking a bit tearful, which made Harry cringe. He hated it when women cried.

"Thank you," she mumbled, before running out the kitchen door to see Inuyasha.

Harry stared around the empty kitchen for a moment before looking down at the book in his arms and cooing, "I'm sorry you had to see that, pookie."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Inuyasha took a deep breath to calm himself before he opened the door. He hadn't come close to loosing his temper like that in years; figures _she_ could do it within a couple weeks.

"Hey!" he smiled at the ookami couple in front of him.

"Heard ya got the book," Kouga grinned, letting himself in.

"How did you know?" Inuyasha asked, somewhat surprised as he closed the door behind Ayame.

"Through the grapevine," Kouga answered cheekily with a wink. Inuyasha sighed.

"Sesshomaru..."

"Yup," Kouga watched as his mate walked down the hall into the kitchen, "So I guess it's safe to say the tides may turn in our favor."

"Safe, yes..." Inuyasha answered distractedly. Kouga frowned at the slight distress to the hanyou's scent.

"What's wrong?" he asked, leaning against one of the rag-rolled walls. Inuyasha bit his lip, stalling for a moment.

"It's nothing, stupid really—"

"Inuyasha," Kouga interrupted in an annoyed sort of voice, "I know it has something to do with Kagome..."

Inuyasha turned his head to meet Kouga's electric blue eyes.

"She sat me, ok?"

"Sat you?" Kouga said, pausing for a moment, "But you don't have the beads anymore."

"I know! And she was _afraid_ when she found out. _Afraid!_ ...Of me..."

Kouga, startled by this information, wasn't quite sure of what to say to that.

"She's...young..." he stated lamely. Inuyasha snorted and cracked a light smiled at Kouga's pathetic response.

"Yeah—"

"Inuyasha!"

Both demons looked up as a highly upset Kagome burst out of the door at the end of the hall and ran strait into Inuyasha's arms.

"I'm so sorry," she began to mumble into his chest over and over again like a mantra.

"I'll, um, leave you two to it..." Kouga said awkwardly, giving Inuyasha a grin over the now sobbing girl's head before leaving for the kitchen.

Upon entering he spotted his mate and Inuyasha's daughters baking something that smelled deliciously like brownies with Harry seated at the kitchen island, flipping through pages of the book.

"Happy you got that back?" Kouga asked the distracted boy. An 'mmm' noise escaped Harry's lips.

"I caught him talking to the thing again," Ayame said cheerfully as she poured the dark chocolate batter into the pan Alaina was holding. "By the way, how's Kagome? She almost ran me over when I came in here."

"She and Inuyasha are working it out as we speak," he replied, taking a seat next to the Harry.

"Good," Harry muttered roughly, "Dumb bitch..."

"Harry," Alaina scolded half-heartedly.

"You didn't hear what she said to him," he growled, flipping the page. He wasn't even seeing the runes anymore.

"She just doesn't understand him yet. Give her some time," Kouga said, reaching over and attempting to dip his finger in the batter before Ayame swatted his hand with a spatula, "They'll work everything out."

Harry shut the book with a sigh, giving up on concentrating all together, and finally taking in his surroundings.

"Why the hell are you baking brownies?" he asked the three girls.

"Just because Armageddon is upon us and all the schools and businesses are closed doesn't mean we can't bake some goodies," Alaina said as if it were practical.

"Don't complain man...they're freaking brownies," Kouga yipped excitedly.

"You know you want some, Harry," Bridget purred, which was severely disturbing to hear from a ten year old, "Don't they just smell gooood?"

"Bridget! For Merlin's sake...what the hell are you doing?" He stopped talking as Bridget had climbed on top of the island and began sniffing around his collar.

"Harry...is that...are those other _women_ I smell on you?"

"I—what?" Harry asked, blinking wildly.

"Oooh!" Kouga laughed, "Busted!"

Ayame actually chucked the spatula at his head. Bridget had climbed into Harry's lap at this time and had buried her face in his neck, still sniffing.

"I can smell them all over you! I though you were getting your book, not fraternizing!"

"They were just some dumb witches and all I did was talk to them! Why the hell should it matter who I see? You are _not_ my mate! And get the hell off me!" He yelled back, leaning back in his chair to get away from her. Bridget just wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him tighter.

"I will not get off you! Just a few more years and you can finally claim me and we won't have to deal with all this suppressed sexual tension!"

Alaina snorted into the dishtowel in her hand.

"There is no sexual tension!" Harry choked out, his face reddening in embarrassment.

"Alright Bridget, you've tortured him enough," Ayame said, still giggling. Bridget sighed and slid off his lap, grumbling about how he would be begging for her to sit on him one day.

"I am too old for you," he said for what seemed like the millionth time. Bridget glowered at him and started to help with the dishes

"You and I both know nine years is next to nothing for people like us," She growled at him, "So cut the crap."

"You...are half...my size," Harry ground out through clenched teeth.

"But I won't be forever!"

"Hey," Ayame said slyly, "Kouga promised to marry me and I didn't even come up to his butt!"

Kouga winced as Harry gave him a bewildered look.

"Thank you!" Bridget said approvingly. Harry groaned and dropped his head in his arms. Damn these women who conspired against him.

"Will you leave the poor man alone?" Inuyasha said, stepping into the kitchen, Kagome a few short steps behind him. Everything seemed ok between the two, but Kagome was still emanating a deep aura of sadness and regret.

"Oh, brownies!" she said with a somewhat forced grin. Alaina smiled warmly at her and beckoned her over to help, which she gladly accepted. Inuyasha took this opportunity to sit on the other side of Harry. The three males watched in silence as the girls bustled around the kitchen, content with just smelling the chocolaty goodness.

"Couples have these spats all the time, honey, it only serves to strengthen the relationship when you work it out," Ayame chatted with Kagome, not bothering to keep her voice down in a room full of demonic ears. Kagome granted her a weak smile.

"I know, thanks."

"Besides," the redhead prattled on, "There's still a lot you need to learn about each other. I mean, I'm sure a lot has happened to you with college and everything that he needs to know about. And in return you can learn about the hundreds of things that he hides from other people."

"What? What do I hide?" Inuyasha asked indignantly.

"Oh please," Kouga interjected, "Like how you were in a prophecy? Or connected to the PTB?"

"And don't forget how long it took him to tell us about his being a guardian to hell," Ayame added.

"Well dad, anything you want to add while we're on the subject?" Alaina teased. Inuyasha gave her a mock glare, but was glad to see with his peripheral vision that Kagome was smiling again.

"Well if you must know...I'm an exhibitionist," Inuyasha admitted gravely. Kouga snorted.

"You are not, you idiot.

"Yes!" Inuyasha said passionately, "Remember that time at that college lunch line...?"

"That was one time. That does not make you an exhibitionist!"

"There were other times!"

"There were not!"

"What's an exhibitionist?" Harry muttered to Ayame over their bickering. Bridget seemed just as confused as he, but Alaina and Kagome both had horrified yet amused looks on their faces.

"Exhibitionism," Ayame rehearsed, as if reading from a dictionary, "is a psychosexual disorder marked by the compulsive exposure of the genitals in public."

"That's um...wow," was all Harry said in reply to that

"Yes," Bridget agreed, looking quite pale, "I do not need to hear that about my father."

"Kagome, you believe me don't you?" Inuyasha asked, turning away from Kouga and giving her puppy eyes.

"I'll, um, I'll have to see it for myself," she giggled, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. The tension between the two seemed to lift with the warm atmosphere and the smell of brownies in the air.

"Oh, you will," he stated slyly before pecking her on her full lips, relishing in the blush that dusted her cheeks.

"There is still something I don't understand though," she said, pulling away from him slightly, "From what I understand you shouldn't be able to do magic. But you use it when you look human. I thought that because you're half demon your magical energy is canceled out?"

Inuyasha nodded, understanding how such a thing would confuse her.

"Unlike the spells and what not most demonic beings use to look human, when I look human I _am_ human, so therefore my magical energies will dominate. I'm not just changing my appearance, I'm changing my genus. Hanyou's can do that after a certain age because we are both human and demon and at the same time neither."

"So when you turn yourself human..."

"I can do magic, yes."

"He told me he couldn't when I first met him," Harry said glibly, "he _lied_ to me."

"Hush," Inuyasha commanded with out even looking at him. "We need to start searching for that spell they used."

"Well why don't we go to the office and search right now?" Harry asked. It did seem odd that Inuyasha wasn't too motivated to search right then and there.

"Because I want a brownie."

"Dad, chocolate upsets your stomach," Bridget pointed out.

"I don't care. It tastes good."

"Ok," Harry said with false cheer, "we'll put saving the world on hold so you can get your brownies."

"Thank you for understanding," Inuyasha said with the same amount of sarcasm, "Didn't you find anything useful yet?"

"Hey, I only skimmed it. But I can't remember anything that would bind two beings together like that."

"Yeah," Inuyasha concurred, sparing the book a glance, "It's strange but...neither can I."

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

Crap...now I want some brownies.

I know some people wanted Inuyasha to still have the prayer beads...well sorry, but I just don't think its funny to throw someone face first into the ground unless they are physically attacking you. In fact it's down right degrading. How Inuyasha got the beads off, is for another day.

The whole exhibitionist thing is just an inside joke from my life; I added it for my own amusement.

And I apologize for the spelling and grammar errors on these. I do proof read them, but I'm usually rushing or just really distracted (pathetic excuses but blame the ADD).

Thanks for the reviews! I love you guys, and if I were rich I would buy you all Christmas presents...or at least some candy canes.


	16. The Binding of the Souls

**Chapter 16**

"This is fucking ridiculous..." Harry growled as he flipped to the next page with a little less care than necessary. He and Inuyasha had spent the entire day in the home office, reading and re-reading every spell they came across. So far they had made it through the majority of the book with nothing that could relate to the spell that Naraku and Voldemort had used, and it was with paper-cut fingers and baggy eyes that they trudged on through their reading.

Kagome walked into the room with a small knock on the side of the frame to alert them of her presence. She knew it was fruitless with their demonic senses to aid them but it was a custom drilled into her.

"Boys, its eleven o'clock. Why don't you sleep on it for a while? I'm sure you'll be able to concentrate better in the morning."

"Nah, we're almost through the book anyway," Inuyasha answered before Harry could. Harry growled at him; it had seemed like a very attractive idea to him.

"Well alright then," Kagome frowned, "Then I'll make you both some coffee, ok?"

"Please," Harry moaned in reply. He dropped in head into the book and closed his eyes.

"Stop drooling in it!" Inuyasha shouted, pulling it out from under his head so fast that Harry's forehead smacked against the desk loudly.

"Ow..." he muttered, rubbing the spot where his head hit and glaring at Inuyasha. Inuyasha ignored him in favor of taking over the searching; searching that was once again interrupted.

"Bedtime Biddy," he said, hearing his daughter try to creep past the office and into the kitchen.

"Daaad," Bridget whined, popping her head in the room with a pout on her face, "Don't call me that, I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Bed." Inuyasha repeated, leaving no room for question. He flipped another page and trailed his finger down the contents.

"Oh come on! It's not like I have school or anything. All the muggle schools are closed."

"I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Fine," she huffed, "Can I at least get myself a glass of water?"

"Yep. Then bed."

Harry watched the exchange with interest while he curled into the large rolling chair. It certainly wasn't the first time he had witnessed Bridget fight Inuyasha about her bedtime but this time he caught himself idly wondering if he would have given his parents any trouble about going to bed. He quickly shook his head to clear the thoughts away with a distressed scowl on his face. Of course he would have...all kids do. He was no reason to dwell on 'what ifs' such as those at the time, if ever. But even at nineteen, he couldn't help but think...if he only had parents...

Harry slid down in his seat some more as he listlessly watched Inuyasha thumb through the remaining pages repeatedly. It was in an almost trance-like state that his seeker trained eyes noticed something amiss.

"Wait!" Harry cried, leaping forward off his seat and practically into Inuyasha's lap.

"What?" Inuyasha said, looking quite alarmed.

"Go back a couple pages!" If Harry had a tail it would have been thumping against the ground in anticipation.

Inuyasha granted him an estranged look before flipping through the paged backwards. Harry slammed a hand down on one of the pages, preventing him from moving back any more.

"Look," he said excitedly, pointing to the crease where the binding was. Inuyasha stared down at the frayed edges that were no doubt once a page.

"They ripped a page out..." Inuyasha muttered, eyes widening. He turned to look at Harry, "That is not a good thing."

The smile fell off Harry's face as he thought about it. He slid from his half-standing position down to his knees onto the floor, thoroughly dejected.

"No, no it's not."

Inuyasha saw the pout on his face, feeling the exact same, and found he couldn't stop himself as he reached over and patted Harry's a head a few times.

"What are you doing?" Harry growled, "I'm not a dog."

"No," Inuyasha sighed, "But sometimes I wish you were."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're just adorable like that," Bridget said as she lightly stepped into the room again with a glass of water in hand.

"Ready for bed now?" Inuyasha asked, swiveling his chair towards the brunette so she could kiss him on the cheek goodnight.

"Yes," she sighed, "But just for the record I'm not even tired."

"Well, off the record I can tell that you're lying, and back on the record this is not for debate."

"Why do I need a bedtime and not Alaina," she muttered grumpily as she turned to leave the office.

"Because you're ten..." Inuyasha said slowly with clearly raised eyebrows.

"Thanks dad," Bridget said scornfully, "give Harry another reason not to take me as his mate."

"I already have enough," Harry replied, still on the floor. He began counting off with his fingers. "You're a child, you haven't even gone to magical school yet, you're a child, you're insane, you're...a...child..."

"Well...," Bridget opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before continuing, "That is all only temporary. And...and don't judge a book by its cover!" she finished loftily as she skipped by the room and up the stairs.

Inuyasha chuckled a little, his shoulders shaking in his mirth.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Harry scowled as he climbed back into his chair, "Your daughter is freaking psychotic."

Inuyasha had a bit of a dreamy, reminiscent look on his face that would have been more appropriate on Luna Lovegood as he fiddled with the corner of the book.

"Nothing...its just—that's what my grandfather said to me when he sent to me find this book. I found it in the Hogwarts' library in the restricted section. It actually had a charm on the cover that—" He stopped suddenly, the dreamy look melting off his face rather quickly. The elongated nail of his finger found its way hooked under the endsheet of the back cover. Inuyasha squinted down at it, tugging lightly. It was obvious the adhesive was worn from the lack of resistance, as if someone had pulled it back before...

"Don't judge a book by its cover..." he trailed again, pulling the piece free from hard leather.

"Yes, you've already—bloody hell!" Harry exclaimed; doling out some sexy British lingo in the otherwise American home. He blinked repeatedly at the folded sallow paper that seemed imbedded within the inside of the cover. "Is that—?"

Inuyasha pulled it out and quickly unfolded it. It was terribly creased and quite stained, but legible enough for them to properly see the ritual that was illustrated before them.

"This is it!" Inuyasha cried eagerly. He jumped to his feet, holding the paper spread out before him, gazing over the contents over and over again. "Oh yes. And they must have done it wrong, it's very complex. Unicorn blood...parsletongue..."

"Who cares? We're one step closer to defeating them—it—whatever," Harry said elated. Inuyasha nodded with a big grin on his face.

"You know what time it is?" He asked slyly as he pulled out two pairs of maracas from the shelf above his desk and handed one to Harry.

"It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" They both cried out and began dancing in similar fashions. "Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time!"

It wasn't long before Kagome was drawn to the room from the obnoxious singing.

"What the hell are you yelling about?" She cried, two mugs of coffee in her hands, "You're going to wake everyone up!"

The two boys ignored her and continued with their victory dance.

"Do the peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!"

Kagome gave an annoyed growl low in her throat, which she would later blame for being around demons so much, and left the room after placing the two steaming mugs on the desk...and not on any coasters either.

0o0o0o0o

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"Dad, Harry, where are you going?" Alaina asked early the next morning as she saw her father pull his jacket on. Inuyasha waved the book in the air with one hand as he shoved a granola bar in his mouth with the other.

"Forbidden forest," Harry answered for him. He pulled his sweatshirt over his head and grabbed a granola bar from the box as well.

"May I ask why?" Alaina asked with her hands on her hips.

"We've got a spell to mess around with that could potentially disfigure our beautiful faces for life," Inuyasha replied.

"Oh! Then I better kiss you now!" Kagome cried, having heard the last part of the conversation as she trudged down the stairs. She ran the rest of the way down, into the kitchen, and latched onto Inuyasha, kissing him feverishly. Inuyasha didn't complain one bit as she buried her fingers in his silver locks and nibbled on his bottom lip.

"I don't want to see this!" Alaina shrieked, leaping behind Harry and using his back as a shield from the vision. Harry himself had covered his eyes with one hand while he continued to munch on his granola bar.

"Can we go now?" he asked impatiently. Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha with slightly swollen lips. She seemed to have just noticed that Harry and Alaina were present because her face reddened considerably and she immediately began apologizing.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry; I didn't even realize you were there..."

"Its fine," Alaina said, immediately waving her off, "Believe me, I'm used to seeing him messing around with women all over the place."

"Oh?" Kagome said, calming down. She cocked an eyebrow and threw Inuyasha a thin look, "Do tell."

"You don't want to be here for this conversation do you?" Harry asked Inuyasha. He saw the hanyou shake his head agitatedly and grinned. "Didn't think so."

Harry grabbed Inuyasha's arm and shadow-walked them both to the forbidden forest. The forest was eerily quiet in the daytime, only coming alive at night, and was lucent with the dusty streams of sunlight that managed to evade the many dead branches of the trees.

"Well...where to begin?" Harry asked while stepping away from Inuyasha a bit. The leaves of the forest floor crunched noisily underneath his boots.

"We split up, get what we need, and bring everything to that clearing." He pointed to a small area void of trees several yards away from them.

"Er...can you kill the unicorn?" Harry pleaded, "I'm really not comfortable with that."

"Pussy," Inuyasha snorted, but nodded nonetheless. The two ran off in opposite directions.

Harry new exactly where he was going, his nose leading him strait to the den he hadn't seen in seven years. It wasn't long before he was staring at a deep hole at least ten feet in diameter in the ground between two trees. He never noticed it the last time he was here; there was a giant spider in front of it then.

"Aragog!" He called down into the hole. He heard some shuffling sounds within the pit but nothing emerged.

"Aragog," he called again, "If you don't get your hairy ass up here then I'll rip off every one of your fucking legs and feed them to a basilisk! I know you've heard stories of the things I've done. I'm not twelve anymore!"

He waited for a moment and then one hairy feeler poked out into the sunlight, retreated for a moment, and then reappeared with a body in tow.

The great spider only allowed four of his eight legs out of the den, probably incase it needed to retreat. He scrutinized the smaller being that dared to threaten its home with his many beady eyes.

"You are Hagrid's friend, are you not?" he spoke slowly with his deep, breathy voice.

Harry just let out a short, annoyed breath through his nose before disappearing from view. He reappeared a second later in the exact same spot, just in time to witness the acromantula throw itself back into his den while roaring in pain; his open mouth revealed only one fang.

"That's for trying to eat me!" Harry snapped at him before leaping away back to the clearing—a large, dripping fang in hand.

When he arrived back Inuyasha was already there...standing in front of a freshly mutilated unicorn.

"Inuyasha!" Harry cried, horrified. It was a crime alone just to kill one, but to tear it apart like that? There had to be at least two legs missing.

"Calm down!" Inuyasha said quickly, "I found it like this at the edge of the forest. Looks like a quintaped got it or something," he continued in a murmur, "at least it makes getting the blood easy."

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Why do we need this blood again? It feels so wrong using it."

"Fate of the world, Harry, fate of the world," Inuyasha reasoned, "It will balance out the energy; nothing is more pure than this."

"Well I got the venom." He held up the fang for display.

"Great. Why don't you clear the leaves and we'll get started."

Harry silently waved away the underbrush with his wand, leaving the floor bare and ready to be used. The two of them worked mutely for the most part, having read over the content of the ritual many times to memorize it. Within twenty minutes the clearing floor was a circle of red and silver bloody designs.

"Ready?" Inuyasha asked. No, Harry wasn't ready, and he could tell Inuyasha was nervous as well by his slightly tense shoulders, but found he nodded anyway. Harry had learned long ago that in his line of work its better if you don't think about the consequences—just do it.

The two of them stepped into the circle from opposite sides, their arms and torsos covered in many deep gashes where they had to release their own blood. The second their feet touched the bloodied ground it rippled unnaturally, announcing the first phase of the spell.

"Flamma ut silicis exaudio effusion increpito," the both chanted in Latin, their voices hardly above a whisper. But nature heard them and the forest suddenly became alive. The oaks groaned and the wind picked up, forest creature scuffled quickly from the vicinity; their instincts tuned to the unnaturalness of it all.

"Tribuo uterque quas probo constituo omnis..."

Thick, grisly clouds gathered just ahead, roaring and spinning as though a tornado were about to let loose.

"Caelestis porta exaudio effusion placitum..." steadily their voices grew so they could be heard over the now roaring winds. The blood lacing the outside of the runes was lifted strait up, creating a shimmering red and silver cylinder wall, trapping the two men inside. There was no turning back now.

"Tribuo uterque quas angelus iuvo uterque hic factum..."

Inuyasha caught Harry's eye through the haze and nodded. Harry returned the gesture; he knew what he had to do now.

**"**Pono uterqueuniversi**,"** Inuyasha continued on alone. Harry joined in a second later.

_"Put us together..."_ he hissed in parsletongue

**"**Creo uterque quantum una**..."**

**_"_**_Make us as one..."_

"Genero denuo deleo quas provectus..."

**_"_**_Create anew to destroy the old..."_

"Macula ultra effusion viscus, creo sibimet protraho..."

"_Marks on our flesh, make themselves known..._"

The Acromantula venom sizzled and lighting from the eye of the storm showered down around them, striking the ground angrily.

_"Flesh to flesh, blood to blood, mind to mind, soul to soul..."_

"Viscus ut viscus, cruor ut cruor, mentis ut mentis, animus ut animus!"

A loud clash of thunder sounded simultaneously with the sudden flash of light that blinded what was left of the forest. Then everything fell still once more. As the light cleared away the destruction became evident; trees were lain flat for miles, the ruin was dry of blood—now just a large, black scorch mark—and in the center of it all, amidst the clearing smoke, stood a solitary figure...

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0o0o0o0o

Thousands of miles away on the European continent where the destruction of France had just begun, the Beast bellowed out a deafening, victorious pain before disintegrating as something much smaller and much more powerful burst forth from it.

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Wow...yeah...um...Long time no update, huh? I'm very sorry. My life just kinda fell out of my hands for a while and it was pretty depressing. But my finals are about to begin and once they're over its break time...and then I can update to my heart's content.

I made a mistake throughout pretty much the whole story that I've gone back and fixed. I realized at some odd hour in the night while I was lying in my bed that Bridget's birthday was in august, and she should be ten, not nine. So like I said, it's fixed.

Oh, I want to thank Becky for her awesome Ideas and helping me out of my writer's blocks. You should all totally check out her story: Dragon Tamer at: http/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/2679775/1/

And I've got another fanart for this fic. It's Inuyasha and Kagome at http/www(dot)deviantart(dot)com/view/25404379/


	17. Confrontation

**Chapter 17**

"Charlie _move!_"

It was only through his experiences as a dragon tamer dodging streams of fire that Charlie Weasley managed to evade the large, scaled claw swiping down from behind him. Instead of meeting flesh, as the misshapen demon had hoped, its claw hit the pavement, leaving a deep, jagged crack in the street. The red beam of a reductor curse hit the large appendage a second later, only managing to leave a blackened scorch mark yet still enough to send the demon screeching back, allowing Charlie his chance to run over to Hestia.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly. He briefly looked over the scene before him, taking in the bloodbath. "We need to get to the control center! There's no way we can last much longer here. We just need to take whosever still alive and run."

"It'll never work," she griped, wiping some blood out of her eyes that had trickled down from a cut on her brow. "We're surrounded. Besides, they'll only follow us and break down what little wards we have to protect ourselves with!"

Charlie gritted his teeth, resigning himself to the fact that this may very well be the end. Their mission from the Order was to take a group of civilians, muggle and magical alike, who were trapped in a nearby mall and transport them to one of the few places untouched by demons within Britain (thanks largely to magic). Unfortunately, they didn't manage to quite make the journey without alerting a nearby pack of scavengers. Of course once the bloodshed began more demons arrived, attracted by the sharp scent of human blood, and quickly overwhelming the few humans in the group that could fight. It turned out to be quite the vicious cycle as the more blood there was, the more demons were attracted. Most of the people they were sent to rescue lay scattered around the broken streets, now a meal for the fiends.

The demon loomed up in front of them; resting its weight on its hind legs before it lifted its head and releasing a deafening roar. It refocused its gleaming scarlet eyes hungrily on the pair of humans before it.

"Well...I guess this is it," Hestia whispered, though she still shakily held her wand out in front of her. She was exhausted. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of hoping there was some kind of future for mankind. Apparently the fates had decided that humans had outstayed their welcome on earth and it was high time they handed it over to the demons. She squeezed her eyes shut, unconsciously stepping closer to Charlie's body, seeking any form of comfort in her final moments, fully prepared for the death blow the raised claw was about to deliver.

"Oi! Watch it!" A clearly Australian accent sounded from above the pair. They managed to catch a brief shadow that pass over them before a man landed neatly between them and the demon—two large, twin scythes poised in his hands. From what Charlie could see of his back, he wore baggy grey pants tucked into black combat boots along with a short sleeved, fishnet shirt accompanied by an open green vest. His arms were scarred and muscled, much like the rest of his body, and he had various knives and guns strapped to his person.

"Hey there, pretty," The man said to the demon, bending his knees a little before springing forward in a fifteen foot jump strait for the demon's face—far faster than any human should be capable of. He managed to drag the scythe in his right hand across the demon's face, leaving a hefty gash, and then spun in the air, using his momentum to take the still raised claw clean off with a sweeping motion of the left scythe.

The demon fell back, momentarily stunned as it watched its left hand crash to the ground. Unfortunately, it was just those few seconds that the man needed to finish the job. Before it knew what was happening, the demon's neck sprung open in a splay of blood, showering everything within ten feet of it with the black liquid. The mystery man landed on the ground before the demon realized it was dead. He twirled each blade in his hands a couple times, turning to give the two Order members a smug look, before leaping after the rest of the demons.

"Who the—who the bloody hell was that?" Hestia exclaimed as she watched him made short work of the remaining few with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Don't complain," the red-head replied, dazed.

It was only five minutes later when the last demon fell not twenty feet away from the pair; the strange savior finishing with a theatrical back flip off the falling demon's head and landing directly in front of the two.

"Who...are you?" Charlie asked hesitantly. The man stood up from his crouched position, brushing back sweaty brown bangs from his forehead with a gloved hand. An expression of elated satisfaction, as though he were on a natural high, dominated his features. Charlie instantly connected the look to the one Harry wore when he was fighting the demons in Hogsmeade three years ago.

"Casey Payne." He said in a friendly manner, sticking out a bloodied hand. He seemed friendly enough, with his warm, grey eyes and a five o'clock shadow, if not a bit conceded.

"I'm Charlie Weasley," Charlie replied, taking the hand despite its condition. "Er...how did you fight that thing?"

"I'm a demon hunter of course mate! You think those skills came from your average human? Hell no!" He replied gaily with a deeply amused chuckle.

Charlie glanced at Hestia, who looked just as dumbfounded as he felt. Casey spoke about demon hunting as though it were a profession.

"A demon hunter?" She questioned slowly, "Like Harry?"

"Who?" he queried.

"Harry Potter? He's a demon hunter too." '_And a demon,' _she added silently.

"Mmm, nope, sorry. Never heard of him. Then again, you can't expect me to know all of us now can you?"

"There are more of you?" Hestia asked. She noticed a total of six remaining individuals who had survived the attack making their way towards the group.

"Well of course there are! Someone's gotta keep these damn fruit loops under control," he replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world as he waved his hand carelessly in the direction of the nearest carcass. Charlie lifted a dubious eyebrow.

"So what are you doing all the way over here? Most humans have left England."

"Well this is where all the fun is of course! Demon hunters from all over have been flocking to the scene of the crime. Hell, I came all the way from Oz just for a piece of the action. Its good advertisement for our skills you know. Betcha I won't be the last one you run into."

"Advertisement?" one of the civilians who were still with them asked.

"Well sure! Gotta make a living some how, eh? Mostly the wealthy and informed hire us for protection or assassinations. But ever since the world's gone to the dogs it's been Rafferty's rules for us demon hunters. It's like the ultimate training grounds. No restrictions or regulations. The competition is fierce though, always has been in this business. It's kill or be killed. Best way to live!"

He paused in his ramblings at the slightly horrified looks he was receiving from his small audience.

"Oh, no worries. I'm sure it will all sort out in the end. And if not...well...more fun for me I guess, right?" He was once again greeted with silence. "Crickey, you pommies are always so uptight, aren't you?"

Charlie thought now would be the best time to speak up.

"Erm, Casey, would you mind accompanying us to our headquarters? I'm sure our leader would love to hear more about demon hunters and we could really use the protection."

"Sure thing, mate." the Australian replied easily. Charlie grinned in relief. If this guy was anything like Harry, he was sure they would make it the rest of the way in more or less one piece.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

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A loud screeching noise rebounded off the shaded architecture of Parisian structures. Dozens of thrashing tentacles suddenly dropped to the ground, dissolving into huge puffs of smoke from the impact. The streets of Paris were now filled with panicky civilians trying to make their way through opaque air. The humans—including soldiers, civilians, and wizards—had just about given up fighting and instead opted to run in the opposite direction of whatever danger was discharged from Hell.

As the smoke began to clear a lone, shadowy figure could be made out. It was male, hunched over, and taking deep, steadying breaths as he tried to gather his bearings. His head ached terribly as two different sets of memories clashed angrily within his mind. Two different lives and yet...he was just one man; one man with one mind. He knew who he was, he knew what he was to be called, and he knew his purpose. Breathing through the small slits of nostrils, he looked down at himself, noticing a tall and willowy, yet strong human body, wrapped in a simple black kimono with deep purple cobweb prints embellishing it. A lock of long, sleek black hair hung over his face and he touched it gingerly with stretched, pale fingers, absently noting the downy texture. He managed to stand strait as the ache in his head receded, feeling the weight of his sleek hair resting against his shoulders and upper back. But it wasn't his appearance that he was concerned with.

It was the power. Power was what he felt coursing through his veins and settling in his bones; encasing his whole being with such strength and security. Power that was raw, chilling, and more awesome than what either of his previous lives had before him.

"Yesss," he hissed, relishing in the pulse of lawless magic that sent delighted shivers down his body. This was what he had strived for his entire life: total and complete power...control...authority. It was all his.

He raised a bony hand to the sky. The sleeve of his kimono dipped down his arm, revealing a palled, yet strong forearm adorned with the dark mark.

"I, Braeden, ruler of the seventh gate, command you to open! Release those within you. Those who hunger for free reign of this world!" He cried, his voice was shrill and echoed throughout the deserted streets. There was a brief moment of silence as the figure still stood with his arm stretched upwards; light bits of debris still sprinkling around him from the recent destruction of the surrounding edifices, filtering the sunlight and creating a hazy glow around the man now known as Braeden.

Then the clouds rolled in; thick, black ones that spiraled quickly, covering the whole sky in darkness. Next came the chilling, ominous cold that the human world was becoming much too familiar with. It swept over the darkened city, shaking the already traumatized humans who never managed to make it out of the area in time. And last came the screaming—the inhuman, unearthly screams of a thousand demons spilling forth from the sky...the ground...even the air.

No time was wasted. The scent of humans and fear were both fresh in the air, stimulating the starved demons' thirst for blood. The civilians of Paris barely had a chance to scream as they were hunted down and torn apart by the merciless, demonic teeth. It was useless running; the acute senses of the natural foragers could pinpoint the exact location of every individual within miles.

Braeden watched the event unfold with a manic grin, his own fangs glistening with malice. Every one of these demons were at his disposal; every human life in his hands. He was a step away from being a God, he could taste it.

And then his fifteen minutes of fame came crashing down around him.

When the screams of tortured humans began to die down around him, he initially brushed it off as the silence that came with death. But then the diminishing demonic aura came to his attention, and a spark of panic struck hard in his chest at the thought of his power slipping through his fingers. Glancing around, Braeden was horrified to see his demons sucked back into the earth one by one by near invisible chains.

"What...what is this? No! This is my power! Mine! You will obey _me_!" He snarled possessively. His new found power bubbled along side of his rage as he furiously summoned more demons, only to have them swallowed back again. He knew there was only one explanation for this defiance of his power. There was another guardian near by.

"Show yourself!" He roared to the bloodied streets; red slitted eyes glittered with the promise of pain. He could hear him self breathing rather hard, though he knew not if it were from his own fury or his earlier exhilaration.

"Must you always be so dramatic?" A lightly amused voice sounded from behind him. Braeden's eyes widened marginally at the familiar, sharp throb in both his head and back. It could only mean that...but it wasn't possible...they couldn't possibly have...

He turned, furiously squashing the small spike of fear that barbed his chest. He was indomitable. Fear was something he should never feel. With a feral growl, Braeden lifted his eyes to meet his opponent's blazing amber gaze, a stare that was broken only by long, unruly bangs and forelocks that moved with the wind. The rest of the hair was swept back into a lengthy, high ponytail, the sleek black strands fading into silver tips.

"You..." Braeden said in barely a whisper. Not ten feet away stood the bane of his short existence. Standing at six feet even, adorned in black, fitted, low-cut pants and a black, sleeveless vest, was a creature emitting the heinous scent of both Potter and the blasted hanyou.

"Me," the man replied with a wolfish grin, showing off his own pair of fangs. His smooth face was lined with the two, jagged demonic strikes (though now shaped similar to lightening bolts) along the cheeks that once adorned Inuyasha's demon form, only these were emerald rather than purple. Like Braeden, he was of one body, mind and soul; a whole other being born of two.

"Am I correct in my assumption that you are Potter and the half-breed?" Braeden said with as much civility as he could muster. The other man stared down curiously at him for a moment, crossing his arms and drawing attention to the leather bracers that covered the forearms.

"Call me Shae," he said finally, though his voice was tight with poorly contained loathing, "and you must be the bastards rolled into one package, right?"

"Braeden," the pale man replied with equal contempt.

"So what do we do now, Braeden?" Shae began lightly as though they were mere acquaintances. "There is no doubt that we are equal in power, and we both have control over our respective gates. Do you plan on fighting me to the death in some time consuming, epic battle?"

"But of course," Braeden retorted silkily, "How else will I conquer the world with as little opposition as possible if I don't crush my most worthy opponent dramatically for all to see."

He idly gestured to the lone, brave news helicopter hovering a safe distance away.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you..." Shae muttered scornfully.

They reached a silent mutual agreement thereafter to begin said fight. Both figures squared off, tensing their bodies and sending wave after wave of killing intent towards the other. Then both men seemingly disappeared, each moving far too fast for the naked eye to follow.

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Oh man...

You all have every right to hate me right now. There was no excuse for taking five freaking months to update. Part of it was getting way to lazy over intersession and another part was me having to really crack down on my school work (I've nearly lost my scholarship -cries-…slacker). But it mostly had to do with my newfound obsession with Naruto. I really want to slap myself, and you're welcome to as well, but it totally took all my attention away from this story. And then it took a lot of pep talking to myself (which was scary for my roommate to witness) to get back to the chapter.

So again, I'm sorry, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up within the next week or so. I gotta get back in my good writing habits, damnit! grrrr


	18. Braeden's Trump

**Chapter 18**

Grover Lipson had been in the news business for over 14 years. He had witnessed some of the most horrific wreckage and reported on some of the most tragic stories. He had survived through the uprising of the demons, putting himself in the line of fire just so the world could know what was going on. But nothing could have prepared him for what he was seeing now from two hundred feet in the air.

"Are you getting this Bert?" he hollered over the roar of the helicopter propellers to his cameraman. His eyes greedily drank in the sight of the many seemingly spontaneous explosions that were razing Paris to the ground. He, however, knew enough to know that spontaneity had nothing to do with it but it was instead the collisions of the two super-beings.

"What's there to get?" Bert roared back, "You can hardly see them they're moving so fast—Woah!"

A skyscraper, less than fifty feet away from where they were hovering, had suddenly exploded, pelting the helicopter with broken fragments of cement.

"I'm going higher!" The pilot called out as he began to fly them away from the fight.

"No! Get closer!" Grover cried out quickly, "We need to get this! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

The pilot and Bert shared a dry look before the pilot shrugged and conceded to the reporter's demands, dipping towards the explosions. He had just hoped he would be getting a bonus in his check by the end of the week. That is, if there was anyone left to give it to him.

0o0o0o0o

0o0o0o0o

Braeden charged Shae for what seemed to him like the hundredth time; a blow that was parried with equal power, leaving an explosion of sorts in it's wake. The dark being seemed hell bent on annihilating it's nemesis as soon as possible, and it showed with the aggression and power of each attack. Shae was doing all he could to hold his own under the intense onslaught. It also didn't help matters that he was 'born' moments ago. He was still in the process of testing out his limits; finding what strengths and weaknesses he picked up from his benefactors while scoping around to find the same about Braeden. He knew that the connection between Harry's scar and Voldemort, and Inuyasha and Naraku's scars was faint but still active, allowing the two of them to share slightly empathic abilities with each other. The both of them had Magical abilities as well as demonic powers and resilience factors. Not to mention the speed...

Shae winced as his train of thought was abruptly cut off by a deft blow to the left ribs that slipped past his defenses. He immediately retreated, narrowly missing Braeden's follow-up round house kick that would have sent him careening into the Louvre, and landed on the roof of an apartment complex. Braeden followed the suit, choosing the roof of an adjacent building.

"What's wrong, _Shae_?" he taunted, while pacing the roof ledge with an air of conceit, "You were so confident moments ago."

Shae scowled at his nemesis but happily noted Braeden was panting just as hard as he was. He had plenty of power and stamina left to go on for another few hours as they were...but neither being seemed to be making any progress. What he needed was an edge. Some trump card that was partial to only him...

Shae frowned. The situation was bad, but not nearly so to justify the sudden feeling of despair that had just over came him. He looked down at his bare arms and his frown deepened as he saw goosebumps appear on his otherwise unblemished skin. His eyes traveled from his arms to Braeden (who was now cross-armed and smirking) the icy feeling of hopelessness spreading from the pit of his stomach to his limbs. He was well familiar with such a feeling.

Looking down at the hundreds of dementors flooding the street, Shae could not help but curse Braeden for pulling his trump card first.

0o0o0o

0o0o0o

"Kami-sama on a pita...is anyone else seeing this?" Shippo spoke, not really aware if it was him speaking at all; his voice sounded far away even to his own ears. He was seated among Alaina, Souten, and Kagome, with Bridget hiding away just behind the door so she could listen in on the news report that had their eyes glued to the screen.

"Who is that? Is that really Inuyasha and Harry?" Souten asked, staring at the youthful man with the long, ponytail. After receiving a series of shrugs and nods she asked, "But will they be able to separate after this?"

"Oh God, I hope so," Kagome whispered. Her fingernails were digging into the cloth of her skirt.

"Yeah," Alaina agreed, "I don't want to think about Harry being half my father..." she trailed off and appeared to be trying to grasp the concept of such a thing. Kagome immediately followed the suit. She loved Inuyasha; she knew that...but now he was a part of someone else...could she love Harry too? Or whatever being they had became? Possibly. Harry was so young though, and while he was cute he didn't seem too keen on her sometimes, almost as if he were competing with her for Inuyasha's attention. Not to mention Bridget wanted Harry for herself. Would she and Bridget end up fighting over _him_ like Kouga and Inuyasha used to do over herself? But this being was also apart of Bridget's father so...

Kagome shook her head, trying to clear it of the overwhelming and confusing thoughts.

"Oh shit!" Alaina cried out, successfully causing everyone in the room to jump in alarm. She was pointing at the screen bent over in a half standing position after springing from the couch.

"What?" Shippo asked looking a bit irritated at being startled for no apparent reason. He looked at the television, seeing nothing out of the ordinary besides the phenomenal battle taking place. His mate sat next to him looking equally perplexed.

"Dementors!" Alaina gasped out, she seemed to have trouble getting her words out from the anxiety that suddenly befell her, "Hundreds of them!"

Kagome squinted at the screen, ignoring the tiny gasp from behind the door, and trying to see what was so interesting about the rubble-ridden streets while wondering what the hell dementors were in the first place. She looked back up at Alaina, who now had her wand in her hand and was standing strait with a determined expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked while somehow already knowing the answer.

"I'm going to help my dad," she stated firmly, flinging a wave of long, blonde hair behind her shoulder. Kagome stood as well.

"No. You'd only get in the way. I know from experience, Inuyasha hates having to fight and protect at the same time. You'd be doing him a favor by staying safe until he returns." She said levelly, though she herself would have liked nothing more than to aid him as well.

"I appreciate the faith you have in him, but I won't be the one who needs saving," Alaina replied with a jerk of the head towards the TV. Kagome followed the hint and saw their hero having a hard time staying on his feet. He seemed to be staggering under some kind of spell.

"What's wrong with him?" Kagome asked alarmed. She unconsciously reached towards the figure on the TV, as if she could somehow comfort him by touch alone.

"Dementors." Alaina responded, again, "They're apparitions that feed off of happiness. They'll force you to relive your worst memories until they get the chance to suck your soul out of your mouth. The worst of Harry and dad's memories is a bad combination. He needs help. I can do a patronus."

Kagome took a moment to process this information (sans the patronus part—since she had no idea what that was about) until the severity of it hit home.

"Oh my—I'm going with you." She decided, reaching for her arrows that she hung on the arm of the couch. "My sacred powers will come in handy while you work on the dementors."

"Girls! It really is dangerous—"

"Don't try and stop us, Shippo."

"Please—"

"No Shippo! Kagome, hold onto my arm tight." Kagome nodded and did as she was told; ignoring the slightly ajar door of the living room before the unpleasant sensation of apparating overcame her. Alaina could have later told someone she had thought she felt a small tug on the back of her shirt.

0o0o0o

0o0o0o

Things were not going well for Shae to say the least. Voldemort still had the allegiance of the dementors, his strongest weakness. How could he have forgotten that imperative detail? While at full strength he could take on Braeden head to head. His current weakened state, however, could not. In almost no time he found his mind overwhelmed with tragic and terrifying visions of his two pasts. Voices filled his ears—screaming—blocking out the darkening world around him. He was vaguely aware of his legs going out at some point, bringing his shaking body to his knees.

Braeden gave a wide and sinister grin before taking full advantage of his antagonist's unfortunate condition. He flew from his rooftop in one, swift leap and delivered a bone-shattering blow to Shae's jaw. Shae had no time to recover as he was kicked in the air, soon followed by a knee to the stomach, elbow in the spine, spun by the arm and released into the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Shae groaned piteously as he pulled himself from his encasing of steel. The quick beating had left him bruised and bleeding, and much from the inside. But fortunately it was enough to snap him out of his stupor long enough to take care of his first problem.

_"Think happy thoughts." _He told himself, willing his growing anguish away as the dementors began to close in around him,_ "Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts!"_

He rifled through his memory at lighting speed, trying to scour the precious few recollections of happiness each of his hosts provided that gave the best emotional reaction. The problem was, where one felt happiness, the other didn't, so it was only half a feeling—nothing enough to take care of dementors. What he needed was one that had both Harry and Inuyasha present; one that they shared a similar feeling of happiness. And with that thought in mind, he found it.

_Inuyasha and Harry were returning to Harry's bedroom at Private Drive after speaking with Harry's 'family'._

"_I love how your family refers to you as 'boy'," Inuyasha said sarcastically._

"_Yeah well, we aren't exactly a close-nit family," Harry said bitterly._

_The remark triggered Inuyasha to burst out laughing and fondly throw an arm around Harry's shoulders._

"_Kid, we are more alike than you will ever know."_

_Harry grinned up at him._

It was more than just a happy feeling with both parties. It was a feeling of content...completion..._belonging_. Soaking up the powerful feelings filling his being Shae bellowed the patronus charm...and something else happened that he didn't expect.

The patronus was neither a stag nor a dog demon, nor was it silver. Instead it was a brilliant gold Chimera that was nearly blinding to look at. It bowled over the offending dementors, leaving them shrieking and shriveling on the ground before they disappeared with a resounding hiss. Shae couldn't care less about his new and improved patronus or what happened to the hell spawns. He was selfishly soaking up the warmth that returned to his blood. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at Braeden, who bore a look of half rage and half disbelief on his face.

"Well—" Braeden began to speak as he tried to recompose himself, but Shae had had enough of his stupid speeches. His fist was planted in Braeden's face before he could finish his sentence, sending the hybrid careening into the next building. The fight was back on; Shae showing more zeal than before with the power of his patronus nearby and a stronger resolve. Braeden was slowly falling under more and more of Shae hits, but didn't seem tired yet. Shae was hoping he wasn't saving up for another stunt like the dementors, as his Patronus had faded by now, leaving barely enough dementors to give him a shiver.

That was when Shae noticed the silver eagle patronus roaming around, catching the straggling dementors left on the ground. He knew that patronus well and began frantically searching for the witch who cast it before she was injured. His nose told him she wasn't alone either. Unfortunately, Braeden noticed it as well.

"It seems we have a visitor or two!" he called out merrily, "Methinks we should welcome them, don't you agree Shae?"

Before Shae could get a chance to pinpoint the girl's location within the ruined city, Braeden attacked. Three giant, translucent tentacles rose up behind him, thrashing wildly. They seemed to be composed of a swirling mass of purple miasma and green magic; anything they struck exploded or disintegrated on impact.

"Shit!" Shae swore and leapt to stop them.

Alaina watched as the tentacles made their way close and closer to where they stood, concealed by a disillusion charm.

"We should get out of here now," she said to the priestess next to her. Kagome nodded her head, quick to agree. But before they could make their escape, one of the tentacles slammed on the ground next to them—so close they were nearly burned by the intensity of its youki.

"Run!" Alaina cried racing down the street with Kagome hot on her heals. They dodged and dived, avoiding the tentacles and falling debris from the collapsing buildings around them.

"_**Vinculum!**"_

Both girls looked up to see one of the tentacles confined by thick, glowing red chains, held fast by 'Shae'.

"There's still two more!" Kagome said as the others whipped around them, "Keep going!"

They both continued to run until the second tentacle stuck home.

"Ahh!"

The spell that disillusioned them broke, leaving Alaina suddenly curled on the ground, holding her profusely bleeding left side.

"Alaina!" Kagome cried, seeing the girl get slashed with the tip of the trouncing tentacle. She rushed over to the fallen teen and immediately began using her spiritual power to try and heal her, ignoring the fact that they were wide open in the middle of the street.

"Just hang on," she said to a whimpering Alaina, her hands roaming her side with a pink glow. The wound was festering from the poison in the miasma, and the magic was causing some odd, unknown affect on it as well, "I can heal the damage from the miasma and maybe staunch the bleeding, but we'll need to get you to some kind of healer after."

Alaina bit her lip and nodded. She squinted her eyes and was relieved to see through the darkness of her lashes that the tentacle that struck her down was now confined as well, the chains to that one held in Shae's other hand.

"My wand..." Alaina croaked out. She was looking to where it landed after being struck from her hand, completely out of their reach.

"In a minute. I've almost got the poison out now..." Kagome said, sweat beading on her brow. Extracting poison was a tedious job that required intense concentration. If she moved her hands from their position, all the poison would fall back into the wound.

"Ow!"

Both girls looked over to see the top half of Bridget suddenly appear a ways down the cobbled street from them.

"Bridget!" Kagome gasped.

"I'm sorry!" Bridget cried, looking close to tears, "I didn't mean too! I just wanted to help Harry and dad! I'm sorry!"

She seemed terrified and frenzied by the situation as she scrambled out of the stolen invisibility cloak.

Kagome sighed, trying to keep her focus on healing Alaina, "Just get over here. We need to stick—" she cut herself off as a looming shadow grew over the unprotected girl.

"No!" Alaina screamed, ignoring the pain in her side, "Bridget, look out!"

Bridget looked up to see the third tentacle raise up behind her. She was at least fifty feet away from the other two and not quick enough to get out of the way of the fast approaching limb.

"BRIDGET!" Shae cried in horror, seeing his somewhat daughter in mortal peril. Both his arms were occupied holding down the other two tentacles with his blood magic. Braeden cackling madly in the background was doing nothing for his nerves

Bridget screamed and closed her eyes, holding her hands over her head as if they would somehow shield her from the killing blow. She waited. And waited. And waited some more.

She finally screwed up the courage to open her eyes, just enough to see the tentacle a few yards above her, suspended in mid air. She could feel the heat of the gases on her face. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she turned and ran towards her sister and Kagome, both of whom here equally confused at the strange event.

Braeden seemed to be struggling with controlling the hovering appendage. "What...urgh...what is going...on!"

Shae, on the other hand, was grinning.

"Thanks," He said quite cheerfully, though, on the inside, his heart was still rapidly beating from the near tragedy.

"No need to thank me honey," a sassy, American voice replied, "Your fine ass in those pants is thanks enough!"

And hovering above the third tentacle, after appearing in a swirl of smoke, was Shiva.

0o0o0o0o

0o0o0o0o

Um...

SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY

SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY

SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY

Oh the humanity. Fell into a bit of depression before I ended the school year and then I got a job this summer that involved me on an island with no electricity (i.e. phones, internet...) for two months. Not to mention the writers block. Oh god, the writers block. But, I'm going back to college (It's a miracle they still let me in) so I should have plenty of time and diet coke to move on with this story.

Thank you all so much for putting up with me and to all the people who pm-ed me until I got out of my funk. You are all so wonderful and I appreciate all the support you've given me. :D

Oh, and Shiva's back by popular demand!


	19. A Near Miss

**Chapter 19**

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," Albus Dumbledore said into his clasped hands as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "Do you mean to tell me, demon hunting is an actual profession? Done by _muggles_? Hidden from _wizards_?"

He could not for the life of him keep the disbelief from his voice.

"Yep." Came the chipper reply.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix blinked owlishly at Casey Payne, professional demon hunter.

"I'm afraid that is simply inconceivable...there has to be some wi—"

"Er—perhaps you could give us a bit of history to this...hunting you do Mr. Payne?" McGonagall interrupted. It was a little known fact except to those who truly knew him, but Albus often like to recognize the superiority of wizards to muggles. In his own mind at least. Pretenses must be made, of course.

"Why certainly, ma'am." Casey said, but not without giving Dumbledore a hard look. "Demon hunting originated in feudal Japan...I think they were actually called demon slayers then...but I digress. Japan was one of the last areas of the world demons dominated in; and even though demon hunters publicly ceased the profession as the demons disappeared, there are still small groups that continue on, just as there are still demons roaming the human world. It's a trade that usually either runs in families or veterans take apprentices. Most work for agencies."

"Agencies?"

"Yeah, secret organizations that people pay to send their demon hunters. The business gets paid directly and then they pay the hunter a bit less to make a profit. That's where most work anyway. Though you won't make as much as working freelance, and there's more regulations and such to follow."

"Why?" Tonks asked, completely enthralled with the idea. "Why choose agencies over freelance if you don't get paid as much?"

"Benefits." Casey replied simply. She nodded her head in understanding. It was the one of the things that stopped her from leaving her auror post to join the Order full time when Fudge was in office.

"So now that there are demons all over the place, people who know about the agencies are paying them. And freelancers are running about showing off their skills in hopes of catching the interest of those who are willing to pay for protection." Hermione surmised.

"Which at this point is everybody," Ron added.

"So what do we do now?" Casey asked. The eagerness in his voice was not hidden and anybody could tell he was itching to get back out there and fight.

"Well, the beast is currently in France, so we aren't in any immediate danger." Mad Eye replied. "Hestia there is currently talking with our contact in Europe to see how bad the situation has gone."

As he spoke he gestured with a jerk of his head over to the bottom half of Hestia Jones sticking out from the fire place, her head consumed in green flames.

"And if it's real bad?" Remus prompted. Mad Eye sighed and scratched his head.

"I know Potter told us to stay out of the way, and I can see why he did it. But yeh know I can't stand not doing anything." There was a brief silence before he let out an abrupt, rumbling laugh, "Now we know how he felt during the second war against Voldemort."

Dumbledore gave a weak smile at that and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny nodded knowingly.

"How do you think you would fair against this Beast Mr. Jones?" Dumbledore asked the hunter.

Casey paled.

"Look mate. I've done a fair job hunting demons, that I can say with confidence...but there is no way in hell that I am going to fight that...that...well he's practically above and beyond a demon by now."

"What the—" the exclamation caused everyone in the room to look at Hestia's rump, "Are you sure? Okay, I'll turn it on right now."

She pulled her head from the flames and jumped to her feet.

"Get out the muggle telly!" she commanded, wiping the ashes from her face and smearing soot across her cheekbone, "You won't believe what's on right now!"

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o 

While he was grateful for the unexpected guest's help, he could have done without the commentary.

"Shiva...this is neither the time nor place to be hitting on me." Shae deadpanned, tightening his grip on the chains that held captive two of the three miasmic tentacles. Shiva grinned cheekily at him before closing her completely onyx eyes, stretching her silver, clawed hands downwards toward the appendage she was controlling. After scrunching up her face and curling her fingers a bit the tentacle began to quiver. It took only a second, and Braeden let out a hoarse scream as the tentacle exploded on site—completely disintegrated in seconds. It was obvious that, at twenty, Shiva had become quite the hanyou and mastered much of her unstable psychic powers.

"Amazing..." Kagome muttered, staring in awe at the demon that mysteriously appeared. "Who is that?"

"That's Shiva," Bridget informed her. Her eyes were transfixed on the scene as well, "It's a long story, but she's a friend of Harry's. And a half demon too. I haven't seen her in years—she wasn't nearly that good with her psychokinesis then."

Shiva had suddenly disappeared from their view, using the familiar shadow walk technique.

...only to reappear right behind Shae—shamelessly pressing her leather-clad breasts against his back as she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"How about this place right here? Can I hit on you now?" She breathed into his ear, completely oblivious to the two steaming females who were stories below them.

Shae rolled his eyes and made a few quick hand seals. Clasping them together he yelled **"****_perussi perustum!_"**

A flame, starting at the chains in his hands, rode up the tentacles, incinerating them until they met the base. Braeden roared in anger, reeling back from both the pain and the loss of his advantage. Paying the man no mind, and extracting himself from Shiva's hold, Shae turned back to the trio of girls on the ground.

"Bridget, Kagome, hold onto Alaina," he commanded sternly from the roof. And then he was suddenly eight stories down in front of them, holding a simple coin. The look on his face promised a nice long talk later. Without even saying anything, he tossed the coin—now portkey—at them. The moment Bridget caught it; the three disappeared from the scene.

"And you," he continued, turning to look up at Shiva, who was still on the roof top leering down at him, her tail flicking from left to right. "I believe you have a mate..."

Shiva opened her mouth and then froze, as if she suddenly realized something.

"...Oh shit! You're right."

Shae almost fell over.

_'How can she forget something like that?'_

A sudden blast from their temporarily forgotten foe sent them leaping to the sides. They both settled on different buildings.

"I don't know who you are girl," Braeden sneered at Shiva, "But you just made a grave mistake in getting involved."

He raised a green, glowing hand towards her, but immediately retracted it as a red whip nearly took it off.

"You're opponent is me Braeden," Shae said, darkly. He held a new hatred for his nemesis, for nearly killing his daughter. Well...sort of daughter.

"Very well," Braeden smirked. The two men leapt at each other again, powering their attacks with their emotions. But Shae held a strong resolve for revenge, and Braeden used a lot of energy in that last attack with the tentacles. He was slowly but surely turning on the defensive.

A good kick to the jaw left Braeden in a wall; a trickle of blackened blood flew from his mouth. Recovering, he bent his legs in preparation to spring at his opponent, but was quickly forced to dive below as a vehicle crashed where he was perched before. His red eyes bored into the female's black ones.

"I'm warning you wench—!" He was cut off as a golden beam of energy shot through his right shoulder. He lost his concentration from the sudden pain and didn't see Shae come down from above, kicking Braeden with such force that he was buried many feet into the ground.

Shae landed on the ground next to the small crater and caught his breath. He didn't want Braeden to see that he was starting to tire. He took a step towards the hole, preparing to finish him off with his death hand. His left hand began to gather a deep red energy. The youki began to form a larger, clawed glove around his hand. Shae had his own kind of poison, thanks to Harry. One that was nearly as potent as Braeden's miasma.

As if sensing his approaching death, Braeden leapt from his position on the ground and landed opposite Shae. The wound in his shoulder hissed as it healed itself before their eyes.

Shae needed to stall for a few more seconds. The problem with his attack was that it took a while to power up, but the results were always worth it.

"Braeden, you don't know how to conserve energy properly, do you? With all those flashy moves—how substandard," Shae mocked condescendingly. He smirked as Braeden's face predictably scrunched up in rage at being talked down to.

"You have hardly enough energy to keep this little spat of ours going," Shae continued, enjoying himself. His death hand was nearly complete, "What a pity. I was hoping you would prove more of a challenge and WILL YOU PLEASE STOP UNDRESSING ME WITH YOUR EYES!"

The last part was directed at Shiva, who was lounging on the balcony of one of the apartment complexes. She had a glazed look in her eyes and it was directed at his ass.

"Eh?" She said, snapping out of her little fantasy. Realizing she'd been caught she wiped the drool from the corner of her lip and laughed nervously, "ah, sorry, sorry!"

'_Damn it,'_ she thought sourly, _'it must have been Harry's personality shining through there...'_

"I can see I am not going to win this..." Breaden began. Shea's head whipped back to him sporting an alarmed look on his face, knowing from experience exactly what Breaden was going to do. He flew at him faster than any eye could see, energy crackling in his hand…but his fist only met the side of a building, throwing in the whole wall.

The bastard had run away. Like always.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o 

"Nope," Casey said with a tone of finality to the stupefied wizards gathered around the television, "Not fighting him."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o 

"Shit!" Shae swore, and punched the same area again. This time the whole building came down. He jumped away from the clouding block and onto the same balcony Shiva was perched at.

"Hey," he said gruffly, hugely ruffled that Braeden got away. Shiva smiled understandingly and pushed a button on the ring on her right hand, bringing forth her human illusion. She was now sporting brown hair, which she had cut to chin length, and her hazel-green eyes still shined with the same confidence. She reached over and patted him on the back.

"You'll get him next time. It's just the natural order of things."

Shae smiled at her for her effort.

"Yeah..." it was how things generally worked out. Bad guy annoys good guy. Good guy kicks bad guy's ass.

But how many people he loves will Braeden hurt before he can defeat him?

Shae's thoughts went no further when Shiva's "comforting" hand on his back slid a little lower. And gave his tush a firm squeeze.

He flew a good ten feet away from her.

"Aaaiiieee! What the hell woman!" He cried, giving her a scandalized look, "You. Have. A. **Mate**!"

"Well if you weren't so unreasonably sexy..." Shiva groused, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There was no need to get physical about it..."

Shiva scoffed and stood up a little straighter.

"Well...since I just showed up for the better half of this, I seemed to have missed out on some crucial things. So, uh, wanna let me in on a few things? Like, oh, I don't know HOW YOU'RE TWO FUCKING PEOPLE?"

Shae pouted and rubbed his ears, "He did it first..." 'He' being Braeden of course.

Shiva gave him an annoyed look.

"Look...It's a really long story..." he sighed, not wanting to get into things. He was feeling a bit tired.

"Then why don't we go to your place and you can explain everything at once to everyone. That way you won't have to re-tell it a million times."

"But I don't know a million people," Shae said innocently. A frighteningly Inuyasha-like comment.

"Just go!" She said, slapping him on the arm and vanishing in a swirl of smoke.

'_Well at least she left my butt alone that time,' _he thought before following her.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o 

Upon arriving at his house, he came face to face with the usual group who often decided to drop by. His Harry side couldn't stop the tick that went off near his right temple.

'_Why don't they just live here... ?'_

"AHHH! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO YOURSELF!" Shippo screamed upon seeing his long time friend...and short time friend...as one.

Shae grinned timidly and scratched the back of his head.

"It was, um, a greater good thing I guess..." Kouga ventured, cocking his head to the side. He wasn't quite sure what to think at the moment. Sesshomaru remained silent, opting to stare at his younger brother from a corner of the room with fine, raised eyebrows.

"Are you human?" Ayame asked.

Shae shook his head negative.

"Are you demon?" asked Souten.

Another head shake.

"Are you hanyou?" Rin tried.

And yet another shake of the head.

"Then what are you?" Kouga growled.

Shae shrugged and was prepared to leave it at that if it weren't for the deadly stares he was receiving from his friends and family.

"I'm...uh...I'm not sure." He said.

"His name is Shae," Kagome threw out to help them. Unfortunately for her, and for Bridget, who was currently hiding behind Kagome's skirt, this drew Shae's attention to them.

"Ah, ladies," he said in a sickly pleasant voice that made the duo cringe, "Just who I was hoping to talk to..."

At that moment Kagome would have given anything to be in Alaina's place; injured, but healing, and fast asleep upstairs.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o 

Well that wasn't too bad of a wait.

I've been cracking down on my studies! Yeah!

The next Renaissance chapter is almost done for those who care. Which is sadly few. Woe woe.

Anyway...review, comment, flame if you must. I'm open to any suggestions as to where this story could go. It's not like I have a definite plot or anything :(


	20. Deplorable Discoveries

**Chapter 20**

The screen was fuzzy with thousands of black and grey dots quivering rapidly, but that didn't stop the Order of the Phoenix from keeping their gazes fixed upon the television, waiting for more. Silenced reigned in the old Black mansion, save for the muffled sound of an abruptly cut news program.

"That was...that...wow..." Tonks summed up. There wasn't much else she could use to describe the episode between Braeden and Shae. Another, briefer, silence stretched. This time Ron, ever so tactfully, spoke up.

"Who the bloody hell were they?"

Hermione fought the reflex to smack him upside the head for his language in front of his superiors. She was thinking the same thing.

"I think," Dumbledore began slowly, his hands clasped in his lap as his eyes roamed the room and it's occupants, "it is safe to assume the man doing most of the attacking was a more..._evolved_ form of the Beast."

Lupin chewed this information through his head.

"Yeah...but I think he was called Braeden." He added. There was much nodding from the members.

"And that Shae guy?" Casey asked, reminding the wizards of his presence, "Who is he?"

"Maybe he's a friend of Harry's?" Neville suggested. This received many uncertain looks.

"No, I think he has a point." Ginny said, warming up to the idea. "The only people who were able to land a hit on The—Braeden—were Harry and Professor Nagasaki. This Shae has to at least be in contact with them. It would be too much of a coincidence for another person with the power to fight this thing to just show up after all this time."

"So he might have the power to defeat Braeden," Hermione listed of her fingers, "and is definitely a friend or contact of Harry."

"Or Professor Nagasaki," said Cho.

Charlie scratched his chin, light with stubble as he tried to remember what he could about Shae.

"Is it just me, or did he look…I don't know...kind of familiar?"

Hestia turned her head slowly towards him from her seat adjacent to his, eyebrows rising with incredulity, "Who, Shae? How the hell could you even see him? They were moving way too damn fast."

Charlie shrugged, oblivious to his fidgeting sister not far to the right of him.

Ginny sat uncomfortable in her chair, wishing the meeting would end soon. The meeting had been in session for most of the day and she was hoping to get back to the burrow before night fell. The reason was that she simply didn't like the idea of leaving her mother alone for more than a few hours. Ever since the demons got her father while he was rescuing a trapped group of ministry employees from the ruins of the Ministry of Magic, the matron was suffering bouts of severe depression. The youngest Weasley was the only one who was around to comfort her mother (while Ron and Hermione did live at the Burrow, they were usually with the Order or out fighting) and often found herself having to remind the older woman that both Fred and George, along with their respective girlfriends, were safe in hiding and that Bill and Fleur were still alive and doing fine.

To her immense relief, it began to drag to a close.

"We should try and contact Potter again," Moody said gruffly, "...see what he knows about this."

Dumbledore nodded sagely, as if he were thinking along those lines all along.

"That does seem like the best course of action." He admitted. "Though I fear I am at a loss as to how we will achieve that. He keeps himself very well hidden."

McGonagall, who had kept silent all this time, had to refrain from rolling her eyes out of respect for the former icon of the light.

"Albus, I am seriously starting to wonder if your age has finally caught up with you." She stated dourly.

Dumbledore blinked and then stared at his deputy officer.

"Why Minerva, whatever would make you say that?" He said lightly with a distinct pout, "After all those lemon drops I've kindly offered you over the years..."

McGonagall closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Why don't you use Fawkes?" She ground out with a strained smile that looked more like a grimace than anything, "Like you've always done for the past century."

Dumbledore stared at her a bit longer before breaking out into a dazzling smile.

"Why what an excellent suggestion!" he said cheerfully. The shoulders of the entire order sagged in exasperation at the proclamation.

"Why is he still leading this again?" Susan muttered to Ron, still sporting an expression of disbelief.

"Because...he's Dumbledore." Was the simple answer.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

A dark, kimono-clad figure furiously paced back and forth across the icy floors of an Alaskan cavern, cursing the existence of a certain golden-eyed nemesis of his.

"Damn him!" Braeden swore, swiping a rogue chunk of ice from the ground and clutching within his cold, pallid grip, "Damn him, damn him, DAMN HIM!"

The ice was hurled into one of the crystallite walls, shattering spectacularly upon the impact. Alas, the damage was not satisfying to the incensed man in the least.

He stared down at long, spindly fingers, now devoid of any blood or burns thanks to his rapid healing abilities. The same abilities Shae shared. His hands clenched involuntarily—just thinking about that...that..._man_...made him feel sick. He had nearly been destroyed! Him! The most powerful being in existence! Brought to his knees by that damnable, wretched—

Braeden abruptly cut off that train of thought before it brought him any more agony. He stopped pacing and took a deep, calming breath while running his fingers through long, black tresses.

He hadn't even realized his hands were shaking.

He frowned at his own weakness. He was safe now, in the sanctity of his own gate, there was no reason he should be this affected by the turn of events. It was inconceivable, the thought that he could be afraid. That emotion simply did not apply to him.

It seemed to the dark being that, no matter the form, no matter the time—be it days or centuries—his dreams and ambitions were destined to be thwarted by the same opposition.

There had to be a way to gain the upper hand once more. He nearly had Shae with the dementors, but the man had pulled through once again, conquering everything that was thrown at him. Braeden frowned, biting a nearly non-existent pale lip. What was that patronus? He had never heard of a golden one before. And certainly not one that sent dementors back to the depths of hell so effectively. Was it because of the merging? Or had either Potter or the half-breed had the ability beforehand. From what he had gathered from his mixed up intel, the patronus should have taken the form of a stag or a dog-demon. So the emergence of a chimera brought forth a jolt of surprise. A Nue if he could guess correctly, judging by the monkey head and raccoon-dog body. But that didn't make sense! Nues were thought to be bringers of misfortune and illness, something that would befit him more than the ever honorable—and he thought that with sincere derision—Shae.

Braeden's red eyes gleamed with hatred before shook his head to clear it. He was getting off track. He needed to focus on Shae's weakness. He had to have another one...a better one...one that, by some fortuitous godsend, he wouldn't be able to protect himself from.

After subjecting the glacial floors to a few more minutes of his resumed pacing, Braeden's mind was still blank. This was damn hard! Shae was the perfect specimen to counter anything of himself. Where he was evil, Shae was good. Where he destroyed, Shae created. Where he spread fear, Shae spread hope. Where he thrived on hate, Shae thrived on love.

Love—the root of Shae's strength. It was something that both the hanyou and Potter fell back on in the darkest of times, something that never failed to give them that little extra to grant them victory. He couldn't bring himself to understand how such an insignificant emotion can bring immeasurable power to others.

Love. The thought fouled his mind and his face turned sour.

Love.

His crimson eyes widened fractionally.

That was it.

Love was his weakness.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

"I don't know what the hell would ever possess you to do something that stupid!"

"We're sorry—"

"No—that wasn't even stupid. That was brainless, nonsensical, pedomorphic—"

"We—were just trying to—"

"What? Help? You can't help in this. You are humans. Even demons can't help in this. Kagome, I'm surprised at you. I thought you knew better than this?"

The miko looked down into her lap ashamed, her fingers twitching as though she wasn't sure what to do with them. She and Bridget were seated at the kitchen table, Shae pacing aggravated before them, non-relenting in his reprimanding. The others had gone up to visit Alaina, or rather, had given the first and best excuse not to be around to witness Shae's wrath (the ever irritable Harry Potter was a part of him, after all). Shiva had remained. She loved a good scolding.

"I know," Kagome mumbled, her face aflame with shame.

"Yes, you know. You know how hard it is for me to defend someone and fight someone all at the same time. You could have died! It's hard enough trying to fight him without any distractions. And not only that—do you have any idea what would happen if he did defeat me? Do you have any idea what the world would be like?"

"It was Alaina who demanded to go in the first place." Bridget spoke up in the woman's defense, not one to let her sister get away untouched.

"And what the hell were you thinking?" Shae rounded on her, completely ignoring her comment. "You knew better as well! You can't do any magic yet. When you know you're a liability you don't just throw yourself in harms way like that!"

Bridget bit her lip, trying to stop the hot tears brimming in her eyes from spilling down flushed cheeks. She knew she was in the wrong, but her father would never call her a liability even if he was angry. And despite his relatively coarse nature, neither would Harry. It made her think that this man was not either of them.

Shae seemed to have calmed down a bit by now and brushed his bangs to the side with the back of his hand. "I'm going to see Alaina now and make sure she's alright. Stay in this house until it's over. Understand?"

The two girls both nodded and Shae stalked out of the room.

Shiva let out a low, appreciative whistle that immediately turned two sets of glares on her.

Upstairs was a small gathering around a now awake Alaina.

"The drugs shouldn't have worn off this fast," Ayame said frowning. She pressed a cool hand against the girl's forehead, checking for any signs of fever and was relieved to find none. Alaina shrugged.

"It's probably because you gave me muggle drugs. Those aren't as potent for us."

Kouga shook his head, still unable to believe the nerve of those girls. He still remembered the short bout of panic he felt when he received the phone call from a hysterical Shippo. He had known Inuyasha so long that his children were like nieces to him and the thought of them in the presence of something Inuyasha alone could not defeat was terrifying. He looked over across his mate's head to see Sesshomaru standing as poised as ever. But if Rin's comforting hand rubbing along his arm was any indication, then he was just as shaken as the rest of them. His cool façade had slipped dramatically during the last month of horror. He turned his attention over to Shippo and Souten, both of whom felt the guiltiest for letting the girls slip away under their supervision.

"So you've healed."

Alaina sat up at the sight of the new arrival.

"Dad!"

"Shae." He corrected impassively.

"Sorry...Shae..." it was so weird, speaking to her father as though he was not him...if that made any sense. She felt uncomfortable under his criticizing stare and knew she had a lot to apologize for.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she said, avoiding his gaze by staring at her the sheets fisted in her hands, "though I know that probably doesn't mean much at this point."

Fortune was with her today for he had calmed down a quite a bit after telling off the other two and just settled for a hard look.

"You not only endangered yourself but your sister and Kagome as well." He said frostily, "Use better judgment in the future because I will not be there to save you all the time and this is far from over."

Alaina bit her lip and breathed in as she nodded forcefully.

"What happened with Braeden?" Kouga asked.

Shae looked at him confused.

"He got away, the bastard, but I thought it was all caught on television? Please don't tell me I put all that effort into dragging the battle away from the chopper for nothing."

Shippo smiled and shook his head.

"Well as soon as you sent the girls back we were more focused on them. We did see Shiva arrive though."

Shae gave a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat at the mention of her.

"Don't even pretend you didn't enjoy my presence," The woman in question said from the doorway followed by a sheepish Kagome and Bridget. "Hello all!"

The rest of the occupants gave hesitant waves (except for Sesshomaru, who ignored her completely), knowing all too well how unpredictable the half demon could be during her rare visits.

"Anyway," she continued on as though oblivious to all the skepticism of her presence, "How goes the rampant demon situation?"

"The flow of demons has lessened considerably," Shae said, pleased with that particular turn of recent events, "Looks like the other guardians have recovered from the millennium crash and are back on track."

"Hmm, I noticed a huge decline in demons back home," Souten said thoughtfully, "I thought they had just spread out more but it seems things are finally looking up for humanity."

"Yeah, but they did cause a lot of destruction while they were here," Ayame pointed out, "a lot of it irreversible too, like the confirmed existence of Hell to humans."

"And the exposure of the wizarding world to muggles," added Alaina.

"Not to mention the entire death and destruction world wide." said Shippo, "People will be panicky long after all the demons are gone."

"You know Shae," Shiva gabbed, "your entire street is pretty much clear of destruction. How'd that happen? Half of my hometown was decimated by demons before I arrived."

"We have my angry half to thank for that..." he said cheerfully, referring to, of course, Harry and his rule over the ninth gate.

"Mmmm...he was rather volatile wasn't he?" Shiva grinned saucily. "Then again, that was Harry Potter's sex appeal—his violence."

"Will you two please stop talking about him in the past tense?" Bridget spoke up a bit irately for the first time since she was reproached, "Why aren't you more concerned about getting back to your normal self! Selves." She corrected.

"Yes, how will you separate?" Rin asked inquisitively. Everyone stared at the hybrid being having wondered the same thing since the ritual was completed. There was a brief moment of foreboding silence before Shae responded while making sure not to look anyone in the eyes.

"Uh...not so sure that's going to happen."

"What?" surprisingly it was Sesshomaru who spoke the word out with a dangerous hiss. Shae lifted his honeyed eyes to meet a similar color and kept his face impassive. He had nothing to fear from Sesshomaru, now being the infinitely more powerful one of the two.

"There is no reversal that I know of," he said clearly. This was met with many horrified and disbelieving gasps.

"No..." Kagome said shakily. She pointed an accusing finger in Shae's direction not wanting to believe it. "No. You—he wouldn't do that to us!"

"To save you? I think he would." He stated neutrally. But it was clear by the light in his eyes that he felt sorry for her.

"But not after...I just..." and she broke down into tears, falling into the awaiting, comforting arms of Ayame. Bridget was frightened by all that was happening around her and climbed onto the bed to be close to her sister. Kouga watched Alaina wrapped her arms around the smaller girl before turning his gaze back to Shae with his brows furrowed as though he had never seen him before.

"This doesn't seem to concern you at all," Rin said skeptically, her intelligent brown eyes suddenly seeing the man in a new, less familiar light.

"Why would I be concerned? Even if there was a way to separate them...if that happened I would cease to exist."

The simple statement brought forth a flurry of concepts that no one had even thought of before. Up until now they had thought of Shae as just a healthy, temporary mixture of Harry and Inuyasha...the threat of Breaden keeping them from having any time to doubt otherwise. But now they are learning that Shae was a completely different person. He was a stranger to them. What if Shae was unwilling to give them back their loved ones once it was all over? What if there really was no reverse to the transformation? Would they be able learn to live with him without being reminded of what they lost?

To Alaina, that last sentence was like loosing her father all over again. It hit her suddenly as she stoked the thick black curls of her shaken sister's hair soothingly, that, in fact, her father no longer existed. Neither did Harry. There was just Shae.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Up in Burlington, Vermont, happily sipping a cappuccino in her full-sized, winter cottage, was forty-one year old Mona Crawford—formally known as Mona Nagasaki just five years ago. Despite her recent over-the-hill status she still could be called stunning with her long golden mane and clear blue eyes. She stood only at five foot four, a petit woman, and even after giving birth to two children she still had a killer figure that she clearly took time to maintain.

She had come out of the divorce quite well, if she did say so herself. It had seemed at the time that Inuyasha was willing to pay any expense to get rid of her, not that it left much of a dent in his account. And while she was still a bit sore with him after all these years she had to be thankful. Because of her ex-husband she remained relatively unscathed from the demon attacks. He had been kind enough to set up protection wards around her residence to keep her safe. Since then she had been able to enjoy her uninterrupted sanctuary in the peaceful setting on the outskirts of the once beautiful Vermont town.

So it came as no small surprise that she let loose a piercing scream when the very foundations of her home began to tremble as an explosion took place right outside her window, blowing glass across the once pristine kitchen. She leapt from her seat, her ornate teacup shattering around her feet, and ran to the door. Whatever was attacking was going to bring the whole house down and she'd be damned if she was going down with it. She made a brief stop to the small entryway closet to swiftly throw on a woolen coat and grab the gun she hid up on the top shelf. She wasn't fool enough to expect the wards to stay standing when the house came down.

She reached the door and hurled it open, only to scream for a second time when she nearly ran into the shadowy figure of a man standing just outside. Two scarlet eyes brightened at the sight of her.

"Good evening Ms. Crawford," he hissed pleasantly as though he were delighted to see her.

Mona took an involuntary step back into the failing house. She recognized this man. His long, groomed, ebony hair and fitting, black and violet kimono marked him as the same man she saw on the television.

"What do you want?" she asked in a hushed, unsteady voice, wanting nothing more than to get out of the house and away from this man. Unfortunately for her he was blocking her only escape route.

"What do I want? I simply want to make a statement, my dear. And you're going to help me."

He took a step towards her, forcing her to back completely into the residence. Something in the recess of her mind was telling her to get away from him as fast as possible, but it seemed her legs weren't obeying her. She was paralyzed with fear and could do nothing but shake as he lifted a bloodless, bony hand in front of his face. The hand erupted into menacing black flames that seemed to cause him no pain.

"N-no..." she whimpered. Now she knew her paralysis was not natural. It felt as though invisible ropes from all directions were holding her in place. "Please..." she said weakly.

He merely smiled at her. His fangs gleaming in the dull light manufactured from his flaming hand. He reached towards her, slate flames of death dancing in anticipation of her end.

"You can thank your ex-husband for your untimely death when I send him to meet you in hell."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Right. Lots o' controversy brought up here. Will Shae ever separate, let alone defeat Braeden? Who's Braeden going to kill next? Has Dumbledore finally lost it? Who knows!

Roar! Good times good times. What am I going to do with myself?

If anyone read that insanely random Naruto one-shot, Expectations, I just posted the other day then you are probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me as well. Ah, well.

But if you like timeskip-NaruSaku...and are a pervert...then I suggest you read it!

Thanks for your patience and reviews! I lobe them very, very much.!


	21. Weakness with Love

**Chapter 21**

Shae was not the vision of omni power that he was expected to be as he sat on the window sill, looking out at the snow covered neighborhood with his knees tucked under his chin. It was misleading...both the sight he was looking at and the sight of him. Here was a town, one of the few left, where the snow that lay on the ground was undisturbed and not coated with glistening, raw blood. And the sky was not covered in wicked, rolling mauve clouds. It was quiet here.

And here was a person with more power than any demon or any human on the face of the earth save for one. And he felt less in control of it than ever.

It really hurt Shae to use such cold and abrupt words with these people that his heart was telling him to care for. Inuyasha and Harry were not as dead as he made them believe. Yes, chances were he was not going back to his original forms, but they were both very alive in his mind and memories; in his mannerisms and personality. But the chance of him surviving Braeden's defeat—if he could be defeated at all, that is—were very slim. They should accept their loss now; get used to them not being apart of their lives anymore.

"Ohayou!" Shiva's short, brown hair swung in front of his face as she leaned over his frame. "Well aren't you a sad sight."

"Hi Shives...it's not the morning." he droned.

Shiva pouted and sat cross-legged at the other end of the window sill, balancing on the thin ledge.

"Hey, now. Don't go acting all superior around me..." she said teasingly, leaning forwards and poked the jagged, olive stripe on his cheek. Shae couldn't stop that side of his face from giving a half grin.

"How are they doing?" He finally asked.

"Hmm...well...mourning would be a good word to use. They sure are a solemn bunch right now. Not that I can blame them. Did you have to be so harsh?"

Shae shrugged and looked back over his street. "Probably not. But I don't want them to have any false hope that they'll be getting back Inuyasha and Harry if we do win."

Shiva's eyes saddened.

"So there really is no turning back for you, huh?" She said grimly. "Pity...that's two less people I can hit on."

Shae looked at her disbelievingly and she winked. He sighed and shook his head at her antics—no matter the situation she would never change; a small comfort for him. There was something bothering him in the back of his mind, something that nearly frightened him. He had to get it off his chest.

"Even if, by some miracle, we did find and answer...I'm not so sure I'd want to..." He trailed off, feeling horrible for even saying that.

"You wouldn't do that to them," Shiva said confidently, "I know you wouldn't just by knowing who you're made of. Neither Harry nor Inuyasha were ever spiteful."

"No...But I—," he broke off grimacing, thinking about how he should word it. "I just want them to appreciate that...I'm a real person. I'm someone who they're asking to commit suicide; for their own selfish reasons, no less."

He finally looked at her. His eyes were closed, squinted in a forced grin. "But I can't hold it against them. I understand."

Shiva sighed and cocked her head to the side, an expression bordering pity on her face. She leaned forwards and patted his head a bit.

"I really do wish you got his ears..."

Shae didn't say anything; he just waited until she settled back down from her weird ministrations.

Shiva looked at the man in front of her and felt a bit sorry for him. She could easily understand where he was coming from.

"When this is over," she started tentatively, "you will find out where you stand with them. Sure, you'll be a bit of a father and a bit of a lover and a bit of a friend...but above all you'll still be family. They'll realize that soon enough. Even as yourself, they'll still love you...just like you love them."

Shae gaped in shock at the girl before softening into a content grin.

"You know...just when I think you're only a half-breed pervert you go and say something deep like that."

"Hey!" Shiva said indignantly as he stuck out his tongue, "Don't underestimate my perverted-ness!"

Shae's face fell.

"Never mind..."

"Anyway," she continued with an almost bashful grin "I need to get back to Tai. He's probably wondering where I am right now."

Shae looked back up at her, serious once more.

"Yeah. You shouldn't have come back in the first place. What were you thinking? Throwing yourself in danger like that when you're pregnant..."

Shiva rubbed the back of her head sheepishly with the tip of her tongue sticking out between her teeth.

"Shoulda known you'd have caught on..."

The two were startled from their conversation when a burst of fire erupted between their heads. Shiva flailed for a bit, trying to catch her balance, while the cause of the flame settled down on Shae's arm.

"God damnit bird! I almost went out the freaking window." Shiva growled at the phoenix perched merrily on Shae's leather arm brace with a small note rolled around its scaly leg.

"Fawkes..." Shae stated a bit bewildered. Memories of this bird raced to the front of his mind, allowing him to identify the headmaster's familiar. The phoenix trilled, recognizing Shae immediately and stuck out its leg. Shae took the hint and pulled off the note, skimming over its contents before nodding once to the bird. Fawkes trilled once more before disappearing in a bout of flames. Shae stood from his seat.

"What was that all about?" Shiva asked, standing as well.

"I've got to talk to the wizards. You can use the laptop down stairs to get home. Tell the other's where I've gone."

Shiva nodded. "Alright. Take care."

Shae gave her a half wave before shadow-walking to the Order's headquarters.

0o0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o0o

The meeting had adjourned just minutes ago, all the members immediately apparating away to their loved ones, wanting to spend as much time with family in these dark times. The only person currently in Grimmauld Place was one Albus Dumbledore. The aged man was currently standing in front of a table in an old, darkened study. Many cobwebs littered the corners of walls and furniture. It was obviously one of the few rooms that molly did not get around to cleaning. Leaning over the table, Albus ran a weathered hand over his very old and very full pensive. There were many memories in there; memories of his younger, gloried years. He was sharp back then, capable with thousands of people looked to his guidance and rightfully so, there was so much responsibility, so much life. He sighed and let his cold fingers slip from the brass lip. That was so long ago. He still had the dependence of an entire community, but it was misplaced. He had lost his ability to lead years ago. He was too old; too stuck in the past to properly make decision regarding people's lives. The many mistakes he made in the past couple of decades were proof enough of that.

"Hello Albus."

Dumbledore was quite startled, for he had not sensed the presence of anyone and he knew for certain he was still one of the more powerful beings left around. He saw standing in the doorway to the next room the man who he had just seen on television. The one called 'Shae'.

"Hello young man," he replied pleasantly albeit wearily. He was still unsure of his intentions, "How may I help you?"

The youthful man took a step into the room and held up a familiar slip of paper between his fingers.

"How may I help you?" he asked back. Dumbledore peered over his half-moon glasses, puzzled.

"I did not address that letter to you."

"In away you did." Shae replied vaguely.

"What has happened to Harry?"

"Harry didn't have enough power to fight Braeden. So I am doing it."

"But where is he?" Dumbledore tried again. Something wasn't sitting well with him.

"Don't worry about that," Shae mollified. "What did you need to speak to him about?"

It seemed, for a brief moment, that Dumbledore was going to press the matter further, but then decided against it.

"You have us all reeling from the news report a few hours ago." He said "I was curious as to who you are and who Braeden is. And what happened to the Beast."

Shae gazed at the thin man for a while, obviously deciding how much to tell him.  
"The beast is Braeden; a more powerful form. I am...his counterpart, if you will. I'm here to return balance to the order of things. The demons are being cleared up as we speak. In a few days the majority of humans should be safe enough to venture outside, though I do not recommend it until Braeden is defeated. He is volatile and nothing is beneath him to use to achieve his goals."

Dumbledore nodded, his gaze dropping as he processed and stored all the information for later use.

"And how can we help?" He asked finally.

"Help?" Shae repeated, not following.

"Do not pretend to not know what the Order is and what it stands for." Dumbledore frowned at the man. "It was created to rid the world of Voldemort and his evil. Voldemort is a part of Braeden now. There must me something we can do to ensure his demise."

"You can help," Shae said firmly, "By keeping people out of harms way and minimizing the casualties."

"That is all?"

"That is all."

"But surely," Dumbledore tried, "There must be something we can do!"

There was something almost desperate in the man's voice. Shae sighed.

"Humans can not help in this fight."

"But wizards...surely magic—"

"No," Shae interrupted, "this isn't about magic…wizards are humans…just as muggles are…there's nothing special about the damn race. Well, except for the whole opposable thumbs and free will sort of thing…"

Shae's body gave a bit of a jolt and his hand flew to the side of his head.

"I have to go, now." He said suddenly, making a discernible effort to stay calm, "Duty calls, you know?"

He paused for a moment before he departed, looking back at his onetime mentor.

"I have many mixed memories in this brain," He pointed to his head as he spoke, a light smile on his lips, "One thing I do remember clearly, however, is a twelve-year-old, auburn haired wizard who had just skinned his knee; who declared that it was his dream to try every muggle candy in existence and to become the greatest headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen. It's not often you meet someone who can keep a dream intact for so long."

Dumbledore was staring at Shae with a disbelieving sort of wonder.

"You've done enough for the wizarding world, Albus. You don't have to compensate for your past mistakes. You may not have known it, but you were forgiven long ago."

His body dissolved into thin, swirling wisps of smoke that dissipated into the air, but Albus remembered the familiar smile on those lips perfectly. A tear slipped down a lined, hollow cheek and disappeared into the wiry, colorless hairs of his beard; the twinkle returned to his eyes.

"Thank you...Harry."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

There was something very wrong—it was a feeling that came over his body not long ago. There was some inner force still connected to Braeden that was trying to warn him of the creature's doings. And thankfully, it had nothing to do with the people in his house...yet. After seeing everyone present and accounted for (aside from Shiva, who had finally taken her leave) he turned to go seek out where the true problem lied. So focused was he on trying to rack his brain for anymore hints that he didn't hear the young voice calling after him.

"Wait! Dad! Harry...Shae! Whoever you are, wait!!"

A small hand grabbed his arm and he started, looking down into concerned tawny eyes.

"Where are you going? You just got back." The sheer emotion from Bridget's voice only served to support what Shiva had said earlier. They really did love him. Shae smiled down at her and patted her head.

"There's something wrong again. I need to go fight him."

"But—!"

"Don't worry, I'm healed now," he tried to assure her but no sooner than he said that another wave of dread rode out down his body, this one with much more force than the last. He saw glimpses of a dainty, blonde woman...blue eyes wide with terror...a fully loaded gun clamoring to the floor...

"Shae...?"

He jolted at the soft hand on his shoulder and turned to see Kagome standing next to him, her face furrowed with concern.

"What's going on?" she asked, her hand had lifted off of him but still hovered near his back as if she were unsure whether to touch him or not.

"I—I saw a woman..." he trailed. He knew this woman. For some reason his memories were coming slower and slower to him. Was it an effect of the binding? He'd have to look it up later if he ever got the chance. "I...was married to her?"

"Mom?" Alaina asked, walked up to him as well. The sight of her, almost the splitting image of her mother, helped spur his memory into action.

"Yes. Something happened. Where is she? Vermont, right?"

Alaina nodded apprehensively.

"In Burlington. She lives in a cabin—"

"—Inuyasha set up wards. Yes I remember now. Stay here!" he barked at them and left immediately.

He reappeared seconds later in front of the smoldering ruins of her residence. The wards around it had been slashed to bits. It took all of four seconds to pin-point the woman he was looking for. Her mangled body was left laid out neatly in front of the formerly ritzy cabin. There were burn marks charring her once perfect completion, many of the burns going clear through the skin. There were also noticeable gashes, clearly made from claws, in all vital areas of the body. There was still blood leaking from these wounds.

Thoughts of their honeymoon, wedding, buying their first house, her sweaty, beautiful face after the birth of Alaina, spontaneous dates suddenly flooded his mind. Shae cried out and gripped his head from the onslaught. He had loved this woman. Not as wholly as he loved Kagome but she still held a part of his heart...

Shae managed to straiten to look at the body once more, trying to stop the painful clamp on his heart from hindering his judgment. And then he looked to the blood-splattered ground. There were kanji in blood...

_TWENTY EIGHT KIDS_

Shae felt his heart skip a beat.

"Oh fuck."

His mind was racing. How many had he gotten yet? How long as he had? How does he know where everyone is?

Granted not all his kids were alive today but...

Shae shook his head, getting a grip on himself. First things first: the body of his ex-wife wasn't completely cold yet. It had to have been in the last hour or so that this happened.

Next: There was still some sort of curse or connection between the two of them. If he just concentrated enough he should be able to pinpoint where he is...or at least what he had done...

He screwed his eyes shut and fell back into the recesses of his mind, throwing down some layers of his occlumency shield in order to find that link he had buried so long ago. He could feel it, the dark pulsing of his core; it was almost visible and he reached out to it.

A pain hit him as though he had been struck in the head and he nearly lost his footing. Hundreds of images were exposed behind his closed eyelids. There was Braeden. He had found Inuyasha's daughter Quinn who lived in Texas—the one who had spent the last fifty or so years pursuing a medical career before giving it up to try being a house wife. She had just given Inuyasha a granddaughter a year ago...and he was at their house...he had killed her husband in front of her eyes...torn of his limbs and then beat him to death with them...he turned on her next.

Shae threw himself out of the vision, stumbling backwards and landing on his backside. He was perspiring and panting and shaking. He managed to climb to his feet as the adrenaline brought forth the directions to her house easily and he slipped away with no time to spare.

The second his feet were solidly on her property, he knew he was too late. Braeden was no where in sight, just his fusty, odious stench left to remind him of his failure along with the three corpses of his family.

Shae felt like crying as he saw the body of his daughter, split down the middle from the top of her head—her silvery hair turned brown with caked blood and brains—down to her navel, with her beheaded infant child still encompassed in her limp arms. He knew Braeden; he knew the bastard made sure to kill the baby first, so she could watch its death.

He turned away from the sight. There was no time to mourn; his remaining family was still in danger. Fastening his eyes shut once more, biting his lip from the intense pain the sight behind him brought, Shae delved back into the darkness of his mind.

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It was his son Josh who he found next in his New York City flat. He was still so young, just barely making it into his sixties. His head was crushed, most likely from a vice-like grip between Braeden's unnaturally strong hands. Thumbs were jammed into his eyeballs judging from the gluey blood seeping from the sockets. He could see four cavities on each side of his head where claws broke through his skull.

Further down the east coast were the twins, Marc and Ryan, both working as unspeakables for the American Ministry of Magic for at least a century, they had each earned an Order of Merlin, Second Class. They were strung up by their necks on the branch of a tree outside of the ministry. Since their demonic heritage made it highly unlikely they would die from asphyxiation, Braeden took it a step further. He cut deep into their stomachs, ripping the skin around the wounds apart with his claws so that their entrails would more easily spill out. He made sure they were facing each other so each could watch the other's intestines slide from their bodies.

Next was Camille—his daughter who had recently moved to Canada with her four children after her husband, a full-blooded demon, had died by the hands of hunters. There were definite signs of a struggle around the shattered house; she tried so hard to protect her children before her heart was ripped clean out of her, crushed in his palm and left damaged on the ground next to her head. The oldest was dismembered immediately after, his body splayed across the cream colored walls. The two middle children were both obviously poisoned by his miasma. He had place a hand over each mouth, easily immobilizing them as he filled their young lungs with an unhealthy amount of the gas. Their faces, still wet from tears, were gaunt from the lack of oxygen; their eyes were popped open and blood shot. The youngest was last to go. He dug his claws into her eight year old back and ripped out her spine from the middle, just enough so that he could hang her off a hook on the back of a door like a wreath. Her body was left parallel several feet up from the floor; the blood ran down her dangling arms and legs.

Shae gritted his teeth against the emotional agony he was experiencing. Tears had long since made their tracks down his face and he had stopped wiping them away long ago. No matter how fast he traveled, how desperate he seemed...Breaden was always one _fucking_ step ahead of him. He was too late, always too late. He should have killed him when he had the chance...if only he was faster...

He was feeling more and more powerless...his energy was draining from him with each death...he felt so, so weak in his grief...

He wanted to give up. He just wanted it to end. He didn't care anymore, he couldn't care anymore. His psyche was hacked with too much death in such a short amount of time. He fell to his knees and threw up for the third time since he started his pursuit. He was still bent over, spiting the remnants of his puke from his mouth when he was struck by a vision. It hit him before he could even seek it out...like it was sent to him...because something, some higher power, told him it had yet to pass...there was still time.

He didn't want to get his hopes up just to have them crushed again but he felt a fire rekindle in his chest—one that he thought was to have been long since extinguished. The hell with it; this wasn't over yet—not if he had anything to say about it.

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After reading this you really have to wonder what is wrong with me. Shudder.

I just want to prepare you all that this series is coming to a close soon. Only a couple more chapters left I think. There is one of two ways I can end this right now. There's the bittersweet ending...or the happy, happy ending.

Vote or something.

Leave one:)


	22. The Purging of Power

**Chapter 22**

"Where is he? It's been hours." Kagome moaned, her eyes anxiously flickering back and forth from the clock to the rest of the assembled people. It was with an upsetting departure that Shae left them and the hours crawled by all too slowly for everyone in the house. Something had him spooked and it was anything but good if it meant visions were involved. There had already had been a few debates that broke out about what it could mean. So far all they had been able to agree on was that it involved his ex-wife and Braeden. Something they already knew from the start.

"I don't know," Kouga muttered as he flipped through the channels searching for anything other than static, "If he had been fighting Braeden all this time then surely it would be on the television by now, right?"

"Hn." Sesshomaru made a noncommittal noise in his throat, clearly the most he was going to say on the matter. Ever since the merging of his brother and the wizard, his mind had been silently racing over all the possibilities. 'Shae' was currently more powerful than he had ever hoped to be, which could only mean the ritual either granted them more power as they merged together, or just added their power on top of one another. And if there was truly no way to separate...would that mean he would be without a brother? The idea did not please him; not that he would ever say such a thing out loud but he had grown accustomed to sharing the Inuyoukai distinction with the half-breed. That and Inuyasha was indeed part of their father's legacy...

"Oh My God!"

If Ayame hadn't all but shrieked at the sight of Shae silently appearing in the back of the room, bloodied and ragged they probably wouldn't have noticed his presence right away. The room immediately buzzed with activity and apprehension at the sight of the 'all powerful' Shae, crouched on the ground, coughing and blood-splattered. He was an absolute mess. Not only physically; it was quite clear that his mental state was not up to par. His body was trembling, his eyes wide with disbelief and calamity.

Kagome was the first to reach him, followed quickly by the two Nagasaki girls. The raven haired woman dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his shaky frame, splaying her fingers across the back of broad shoulders. She tried to catch his eyes with her own; his face held so much pain and desperation that it nearly brought her to tears.

"He—he—they're—" he tried to tell them, to warn them of the heinous slaughters Braeden committed, but his mouth wasn't working. His tongue was too thick and his throat too tight with relief that they were still alive.

"Shhh," Kagome shushed him, clearly reading his distress. She put her hands to his face and began brushing back sweaty bangs, trying to get him to calm down. The demons in the room were on full alert. The devastating waves of anguish rolling off him had sent their senses and instincts on overdrive.

Shae was shaking his head, not wanting to be quieted. They needed to hear him.

"He's coming," he managed to breath out. His composure was returning to him and he was able to pull away from Kagome's arms.

"What?" Alaina gasped, petrified of what was occurring around her. Everything was happening so fast, she was hard pressed to keep up. Shippo, Kouga, Uncle Sesshomaru...all the older demons were strait backed and still, looking as though they were holding their breath. Their ears were perked, tails swishing in agitation. Something was going to happen. She was gripping Bridget's shoulders now, trying to reassure the young, confused girl that everything was going to be all right with that single gesture. But it wasn't. She knew just by Shae's dilated irises alone that they were not going to be alright. People were going to die...or already had.

Shae forcibly swallowed and stood. Kagome rose along with him before pressing herself to his side in a subconscious attempt to either give comfort or receive it.

"He's killing off Inuyasha's family." He uttered. He spoke quietly but the resounding silence that followed made it seem like he had shouted.

Bridget drew the conclusion almost instantly, "...m-mom?"

Shae's eyes softened with sympathy.

"I'm sorry, hunny."

And in the brief moment that followed those words he was just purely Inuyasha to her, and Bridget forgot all about the ritual and Braeden and Harry and just ran into his arms, huge, violent sobs raking her small frame. She needed her father right now and Shae all she was going to get.

Years of comforting children kicked in and he bent slightly in order to wrap his arms around her, one hand rubbing her back while the other stroked her hair. Alaina could only feel numbness at the thought of her mother, and possibly her siblings, dead.

Shae looked up over Bridget's head at the taken aback group with a hard face.

"He's coming here now. He'll be here any second to kill you. He's trying to break me that way. You need to get out of here. Go to your families and go into hiding. I have no idea how he's tracking everyone down but it must be through our link. Go to somewhere I don't know and stay there until this is all over."

Sesshomaru nodded sharply and wrapped an arm around Rin. Shae grabbed a picture frame off a nearby shelf and turned it into a Japan-bound portkey before tossing it to them. Next were Shippo and Souten, off to their home in London. He was about to give the next pair a water bottle portkey when the whole left side of the house, including a whole wall of the living room they were in now, was blasted away. The cold sweeping winds rushed into the standing part ruined house, wrapping around the remaining residents. Taking advantage of Shae's distraction, Kouga grabbed the water bottle from his hand and pressed it into his mate's, watching her disappear from the living room with a very shocked expression. Shae snapped his attention away from the destructed side of his house.

"Kouga! What are you—?"

"I'll watch over them, you deal with Braeden." The ookami interrupted. Shae stared at him for a moment, stunned, before smiling and nodding. There was no more time for discussion as Braeden appeared from the settling dust into the now exposed living room. Kouga pulled the three girls behind him.

The pale man looked mildly surprised at seeing Shae but gained back his poise and adopted a repugnant smirk. It was clear to Braeden that Shae was not able to completely veil his depression and he prided himself in exploiting the damnable man's weakness.

"So, it seems you've managed to follow my trail of bread crumbs—I do hope you had as much fun as I did." He drawled stepping into the threshold, "It is unfortunate that I won't be able to kill off this bunch unhindered...but perhaps it would be best if they saw your defeat before their demise. I've always felt hopelessness was the best feeling to die with."

"_You bastard..."_ Shae growled deeply. He was hunched a bit, his black and silver bangs shading his eyes. Both hands were curled and flexing by his thighs. Suddenly he seemed more animalistic. _"I'll fucking kill you for what you've done..."_

A dark purple energy pulsed around him as if it were a heartbeat...and the only one in the vicinity who seemed to recall what this meant was Kagome. She took a step back, grabbing the arms of Alaina and Bridget and pulling them with her.

"Get back..." she whispered, urgently, "We have to get out of the house, Braeden will target it. Let's just head back away from them."

Shae could feel his dark core sizzling with along with his rage. The despair was gone from him, clearing his mind. All he wanted was revenge. All he wanted was to tear this man apart, to make him suffer like he had suffered. His knuckles cracked, his claws extended.

"What's going on...," Bridget asked Kagome frightened as the woman urgently dragged the two girls out of one of the standing doorways and towards the perimeter of the woods with Kouga sticking close by them.

"He's dangerous. We need to get out of here." she said, completely focused on getting the children out of harms way as they trekked though the snow. Alaina eyes widened and she looked back over her shoulder. The whites of Shae's eyes began to bleed red and his once amber irises shined an eerie green. His fangs lengthened, the top pair overlapping his bottom lip, the twin, jagged striped on his cheeks grew thick and black.

"Is that...what I think it is?" Kouga whispered. It had suddenly hit him where he'd seen that aura before.

"What? What's happening to him?" Alaina asked, looking back and forth worriedly between the two adults.

"He's allowing his youkai blood to take over...which means he can just as easily turn on us." Kagome said grimly. Kouga bit his lip and looked over at his friend.

"No...no I think he had more control over it. He hasn't used it in centuries though..."

"And Harry is part of him," Kagome added, "Has he ever lost control before?"

"Lost control? I didn't even know this was possible!" Alaina said with Bridget shaking her head fervently besides her. A completely inhuman growl traveled across the premises, ripping their attention back to the two super-beings.

Braeden was looking on in fascination at the transformation taking place. While there was little physical difference to be noted, the throbbing violent aura took a huge plunge into darkness and power—enough to have him concerned. Nothing more could be thought on this by him when Shae suddenly disappeared...only to reappear right in front of him, a powerful fist planted deep in his stomach. He felt the air fly out of his lungs and a spit of blood shot out his mouth as he careened out of the half-ruined house and descended towards the paved street. He twisted his body as he neared the ground so he could land on his feet but his vision was obscured by a swart knee that smashed into his face, breaking his nose.

"I'll do my best to protect you guys." Kouga said to the girls as they watched the beating from afar. He took off his jacket so he could be more active and dropped it over Bridget's shivering shoulders, leaving him in just a pair of jeans and a pinot long-sleeved shirt.

"Me too," Kagome said steely.

"Wh-where the hell did those come from?" Kouga exclaimed, pointing a quivering finger at the satchel of arrows and bow she whipped out. Kagome just winked and stuck her tongue out.

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Braeden hit the ground face first. Blood splattered across the pavement and a tooth bounced out of his mouth. He could feel that overwhelming demonic aura speeding towards him once more, even with his back turned. This was unacceptable. He was not going to loose when he had come this far. He remembered Shae's devastated and brokenhearted face when he first arrived there. He needed him at that vulnerable point once more. He needed to kill more of his precious ones. Purpose firm in mind, he used the momentum of a spinning star kick to put him back on his feet and flipped away just in time to see the possessed Shae pull his fist out of the ground where his body was only a second ago.

Braeden didn't have anytime to attack the useless beings at the edge of the forest as Shae was upon him once more. He attempted to use the sudden close proximity to strike Shae in the chest cavity with a youki enhance blow but Shae's speed owned it and he jumped above the outstretched arm and planted a foot into Braeden's face. Shae used that foot to push off and gain a bit more height and spun off the side kick to kick backwards into his face once more. The last kick was strong enough to break Braeden's left cheek bone.

"Arrgh!" Braeden cried out as he felt the left side of his face cave a bit. He managed to grab the ankle of the offending foot and twisted it sharply, hoping to hear it snap. But Shae, who was still airborne, was flexible enough to spin his body along with it. His body fell forwards and his hands met the ground and he was able to handspring away from the enraged man.

"Damn you!" Braeden roared, and tried to charge Shae. But Shae's crimson eyes widened dangerously at the obvious challenge and he sprinted head on to meet his attacker. Braeden soon had no choice but to go back on the defensive for Shae's demonic rage was too great to compete with.

Blows were exchanged at a mercurial speed; even Kouga's demon trained eyes could not keep up. The only indication to who was winning was the increasing number of times Braeden found himself struck down and temporarily dazed. Sometimes Shae would just pick him up and throw him across the grounds, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. It was obvious that Shae's somewhat crazed state was giving him the advantage, and the gathered group began to gain hope for their future.

Therefore, it was with crushing disappointment that they heard Shae's pain-filled roar. Braeden was able to break through Shae's devastating offense for the briefest of moments and used that opportunity to get one good swipe of his claws to the other's face. Shae was seen stumbling backwards with a hand clutching his stinging right eye. The damage was obvious to Shae; it wasn't healing fast enough and the sheer amount of blood blurred the vision of his other eye, making it difficult to see. However, he wasted no time in using his blood-coated claws to his advantage.

**"_Serpensortia!_**_"_ Braeden hissed, using his brief victory to his advantage and raising one hand towards the huddled group. A large, hundred foot-long snake, marked with black and yellow, shot forth from the palm of his hand, landing on its belly with a loud thud and quickly slithered towards the small cluster people. He would have loved to watch the snake devour Shae's remaining precious people but a generous portion of his shoulder was blown off by a translucent ball of blood. He snarled at the blood soaked Shae and leapt back into their fight.

The mammoth serpent dove on the exposed group as the two super powers fought on behind it; its fangs sizzled with poisoned saliva. Alaina took a dueling stance in front of her sister with her wand at the ready, preparing as many offensive spells in her mind as she could. Kagome stood next to her with a spiritually charged arrow notched.

"Go!" the priestess cried as she let the pinkish projectile fly.

"_Flagrate!_" Alaina shouted before a blistering beam of fire shot forth from her Elmwood wand. Despite the massive size of the snake its boneless body was able to easily evade both attacks while making it look like it had hardly moved at all.

"He's fast!" Bridget gasped out before a brown blur shot by her. With natural agility that could have put even Sesshomaru to shame, Kouga managed to strike the predator in the side of the neck with his claws. The snake hissed in pain and anger and focused on trying to take out the annoyingly fast wolf demon. It opened its mouth and shot a stream of venom at Kouga who twisted out of the way. The poison instead hit the tree that the girls were standing under, tearing away at the age-old bark and raining the rest of the pale, venomous dribble down on them.

"Shit!" Kagome swore and dropped to her knees. She clasped her hands together, leaving both her index fingers pressed together and pointing skyward. As her eyes closed the air around them hummed with energy and a light pink barrier formed over their heads in a dome shape. The venom splashed against the barrier and dissipated with a forfeiting sizzle.

"Cool..." Bridget whispered.

Kouga winced at what could have happened to the girls without Kagome's skills and decided to end things fast. He jumped up to meet the face of the snapping serpent and delivered a harsh kick down onto the top of its head. The kick crashed through its skull, successfully taking out a part of its face and showering the still erect barrier with bits of blood and meaty scales. The rest of the body loudly hit the ground.

"Wow...and that was without the shards?" Kagome asked.

"Shard—ohh…" Alaina said, finally understanding. After all, it was only until recently that she learned all those bedtime stories about the feudal era were true. Kouga grinned cockily and walked back to the ladies...only to smack into the barrier and bounce back from an electrical surge.

"Ouch! Grrr..._Kagome!_"

"Whoops—sorry!"

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Braeden heaved, his body feeling heavier than he was used to. Each breath had blood sputtering from his mouth. To say he was ticked at the failing of his snake would have been an understatement. It was so hard trying to kill those worthless mortals with Shae in his face every second. The man looked hardly tired at all despite the fact that he was bleeding from numerous places. His demonic takeover blocked the hindrance of pain, giving him an unreasonable advantage over the immoral male. However...

Not all his cards were on the table yet.

Because the real reason he needed to kill Shae's loved ones—his true motive—was not for tearing him down or demoralizing his mission. No, it was to use their souls for a heinous, complicated form of magic.

At the moment, both beings were at a brief standoff. Facing each other, their palms, powered by demonic attacks, were pressed at a mere foot away from each other, each desperately trying to overpower the other. Through the colorful haze of their auras mixing Braeden was able to make out Shae's snarling face. The whole right side was obscured by the blood of his ruined eye from the earlier attack but the left eye was glaring back at Braeden. The red sclera and uncanny lime iris conveyed a wave of killing intent that nearly made his arms shake.

'_Just a little bit longer,' _Braeden thought to himself, _'that spell will have activated any minute now...'_

The skin on the palms of his hands was tearing away from the heat of the attack; blood was dribbling down his fingers and off his wrists, pooling on the ground between them. Slowly but surely, his feet were sliding backwards; Shae's youki was overpowering his own, creeping along his arms, burning them.

_'Come on, come on...'_

"AAARRRGGHH!"

_'Bingo.' _Braeden thought sinisterly at Shae's agonized scream. He felt the pressure of the opposing attack disappear and he jumped back to catch his breath and admire his handiwork.

The searing pain of something piercing his side and burning his flesh, consumed Shae's entire being for a brief moment. Whatever it was quickly ripped back his demonic power surge. Without it, his mind cleared and the full extent of his injuries became known to him, making his physical state even worse. Panting under the pain, Shae looked down and was surprised to see the tail end of an arrow stuck in his side. A spiritual arrow.

Time seemed to slow as his gaze slowly trailed the path the arrow had taken. It was with a feeling of knowing yet undiluted malaise that his eyes connected with a pair of cold brown ones.

"K-Kikyo..." He mumbled before falling to his knees. The spiritual energies successfully turned his demonic aura atrophic and his body quickly began its path to self-destruction. The pain of the spiritual powers spreading through his system and purifying him had rendered him nearly immobile, but it was nothing compared to the pain of seeing his former love shooting him down once again. Faintly, he could hear Braeden's maniacal, triumphant cackling.

"Shae!" Kagome screamed. She made to run over to him out of habit but Kouga's strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Bridget looked extremely worried by the sudden turn of events.

"Who is that? What's happening?" She asked, her fingers cramping from the painful grip she had on her sister's shirt. Alaina shook her head in a dazed disbelief at the woman dressed in an old fashioned priestess garb. Even from the other side of the 'battlefield' the scent of death was strong with her.

"That...is Kikyo..." Kouga said with a bit of scorn, having never really known or liked the woman.

"Kikyo..." Alaina muttered, rolling the name around in her mind as she kept her focus on Shae's struggling form, trying to mentally cheer him on, "I thought she was dead?"

"So had I." He growled. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to destroy the undead woman but his promise to stay by their side kept him in place.

"Necromancy!" Braeden cried with agitated happiness. He held his healing arms out to the side as he strutted around his crouched adversary, "A wonderful art Voldemort delighted in. Useful too, don't you think Shae? Killed by the same woman who once helped you defeat me...now that's poetic justice!"

Shae, still gripping his deteriorating side, looked up at the animated corpse. It came as a bit of a relief to him when he could not see any hint of awareness in her lifeless eyes—she just stood there, unmoving and awaiting her next orders. He found a small and possibly misplaced comfort in the fact that she was just a puppet this time around and wasn't helping Braeden because of her personal vendetta with him.

He groaned as he felt his youki-turned-atrophic hit his lungs, making his breathing more difficult as it sizzled away at the tissue. He wanted to stand, but the second he rose, forcing the muscles on his side to function, his youki worked faster and he was sent crashing to his knees again to cough up the blood that was quickly filling his lungs.

"Finish him!" Braeden commanded. Normally it would only require one soul for a partial resurrection, but in the special case of the great priestess—and to include her powers and full control over her body—needed the souls of many strong beings. Thankfully, Inuyasha's genes led to powerful offspring with strong spirits, and he was given the opportunity to utilize the dead miko's powers.

There was a creaking noise as the wood of the bow was forced to bend when Kikyo pulled the string backwards; the feathery end of the arrow soft between her icy fingers and suspense thick in the air. Braeden licked his lips in anticipation as his greedy eyes took in the sight of his most hated enemy on his knees and helpless in the face of death.

A whizzing sound could be heard all around the area as an arrow ripped through the air.

There was a thunk as it embedded itself into flesh. Shae's eyes widened and there was a hitch of breath and a gasp of pain.

A bow and arrow clattered to the ground, followed shortly by a body. Black hair spilled across the snow.

A whisper carried through the wind, "Forgive me...Inuyasha..."

Shae watched, his teeth grinding in pain, as the body blackened before decomposing into ashes and blew away into nothing by the same wind of the whispered words. Standing a few paces away was a heavily breathing Kagome. An empty bow was held in front of her body by her left hand and her right was stretched behind her head, now holding nothing.

"That..." she breathed, "was poetic justice."

She stared hard at Braeden's face, which looked like he was ready to explode from anger. She then turned her gaze to the injured man in front of her.

"Do it Shae."

Shae's now amber eyes lighted through the cloudy pain and he nodded. Her confidence in him gave him the strength to finish what he started. His gaze flicked over to the other three who were giving him the same looks of reassurance Kagome had. They believed in him. It was time to end this.

Grunting, he slowly rose to his feet; straitening his body to its full six feet and looking Braeden directly in the eye.

_"What?"_ Braeden screeched lividly at Shae's ability to move.

Shae smirked.

"My turn," he said in a quiet lethal voice that gave no indication that he was in any pain at all. It was easily heard over the theatre of war as everyone, including Braeden, watched the unpredictable man with bated breath. He made a symbol with his hands.

"_Laqueus!"_

The blood splattered across the entire battlefield unexpectedly radiated a ghostly shine and everyone present concurrently gasped as the pattern surrounding Braeden became clear. It was a large pentagon but very intricate, adorned with many circles and crosses. Not a second passed before _very _familiar blood chains sprang up from all angles of the pattern and latched onto Braeden with an unearthly grip.

Braeden's eyes widened with instant comprehension as his mind flashed back to their fight—back to all the times he was struck down, dragged across the ground, thrown in odd directions. Shae had been growling the whole time...but if he really thought back on it...there were words in those growls. He was pretending to be out of control by masking the Latin with snarls. The whole time he was preparing his own winning hand.

"You—you planned this—!" He gasped out as he struggled fruitlessly against his bindings, "But how...you were..."

Shae chuckled darkly.

"Braeden, please, give me some credit. Did you actually think I was a pawn of my own power?" His eyes darkened a little and he raised his left hand in front of his body. It began to crackle with the red energy of his death hand. "Unlike you, I don't compromise my freewill for any amount of power."

The youki began to coat his forearm and formed the shape of a claw. He needn't worry about Braeden escaping this time while his final assault incorporated the poison into it—he had taken the proper precautions this time. Black started to bleed into the red electric energy. Once the 'claw' was completely black...then it would be ready.

"I am not a slave to the darkness, I am in complete control of my own power," his voice was shaking now as the arrow in his side pulsed with light magic, eating away at him faster and faster from the amount of power he was pouring into his attack.

"I know the bonds I've created with people are a great weakness."

Shae had to use his right hand to hold steady his left arm as the upsurge in his charging youki caused the spiritual powers in his body to work harder at destroying him. He knew better than to try and remove the arrow...it would only aggravate its powers further.

"But they are an even greater strength."

This was his only chance; he wasn't going to let Braeden get away this time. The pain was nothing compared to his goal.

"Therefore," he growled, looking absolutely fearsome with his hair matted to his face with blood and sweat, shadowed by the flickering light of his arm, "_I will always be stronger than you!_"

He sprang forwards so fast that the four others only had the glow of the black claw to follow.

"NO—!" Braeden tried to cry, but Shae's death hand had already reached him. The translucent claw struck his chest...

...and went right through it. There wasn't any blood, or wound for that matter. Because this wasn't an attack on his body...it was an attack on his soul.

Braeden let out an unearthly howl as his soul was being ripped from his body by the black aberration. Shae gritted his teeth as his arm began to quickly deteriorate from the amount of atrophic youki surrounding it, but he pushed on, his dying hand forcing a transparent version of Braeden from the caged body. The dark current of poisoned youki poured into Braeden's soul, branching out and spreading through the clear figure. The soul was screaming as it was died. The only thing left in the body was its legs—the process was nearly complete, for which Shae was grateful; he could feel one of his lungs completely fail and he was forced to hold his breath to keep his body from heaving from trying to gain more air. It wouldn't be long before the spiritual powers reached his heart. With one last agonized yell, Shae pulled the entire soul from the body. The now soulless corpse blackened and crumbled into coal-like chunks onto the ground.

"He did it!" Bridget screamed, unaware of the man's own predicament and Alaina hugged her, tears of happiness swimming in her eyes. Kagome actually was crying and taking deep breaths of relief. Kouga stood next to her, unable to control the grin on his face.

Shae was still standing in the middle of the glowing rune. The chains were gone, as there was no more body to hold onto, but the process was yet to be completed. The soul in his hand was screeching and screaming incoherently. Blackness began to fill it up, starting with the feet and working its way up. Shae screwed his eyes up against the pain as his own death was quickly spreading throughout his body with the amount of power he was using in this attack. He was mentally willing the process of destroying the soul to go fast. If he should die before the attack was complete...then there was a very real chance that Braeden's soul would repair itself. And if Braeden's soul was intact and wandering around bent on vengeance without himself around to stop it...then his loved ones would be in danger and everything—all the deaths, all the sacrifices—would be for nothing.

The black poisoning of Braeden's soul had reached the neck of its victim by the time the atrophy hit Shae's heart. His dead arm (he had been holding it in place with his good arm since it was the one funneling the attack) spasmed and he nearly let go of the soul.

"Guh—no!" he cried, trying to hold on tighter than ever as he felt the pain of his heart being cremated. Tears began to gather in his eyes from the sheer agony he was in. The poison was nearly at the top of the soul's head, just seconds away from ridding the earth of Braeden once and for all. Shae could feel the corners of his vision turn black. He wasn't aware of falling on his knees. He just wanted to hold onto that soul. He wanted him dead!

"Shae!" Kagome screamed, seeing him fall to the ground. This time Kouga didn't stop her from running towards him; he followed along with the two sisters. They didn't make it far. With the demise of the two most powerful beings underway the large rune beneath them produced a dome of white light, hiding the figures from view. The light encompassed the entire neighborhood, blinding the three humans and one demon. But even as they shielded their eyes they could ear Braeden's agonized screaming from within the sphere.

And then the screaming stopped. It stopped so abruptly that they thought something had gone wrong. The light continued to pour out of the dome, but as their eyes adjusted they could see two forms walking towards them. Each was glowing so brightly that they seemed to be a part of the light.

"H-Harry?" Bridget squeaked as the bespectacled boy materialized before her. She looked to the man on his left and actually started crying.

"Daddy?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. She ran towards him overjoyed and tried to throw her arms around his strong frame. Instead she was left stumbling onto the ground as she passed through his body.

"Wha—I d-don't understand," She said, as Kouga helped her to her feet looking just as lost as everyone else.

"Shae is dead..." Inuyasha seemed to whisper. Alaina was shaking her head with her hands clutched around her ears; her cheeks were very wet.

"No, no, no, no..."

"We are dead too."

Kagome was hanging on to onto Kouga like a lifeline, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I just got you back," she moaned as Kouga forlornly stared strait through Inuyasha whist rubbing her back, "How can you leave me you asshole! You stupid, stupid inconsiderate jerk!"

The dog-eared specter chuckled a little.

"I love you," he said and her breath hitched a little.

They were the three words she longed to hear for so many years.

Inuyasha looked to his daughters, "I'm very proud of both of you. You'll be fine, alright?"

Bridget tried to nod while Alaina continued to shake her head. It was getting more and more difficult to see the two boys. Either the dome of light was getting brighter or they were fading.

"How can you expect me to move on again?" Kagome cried angrily, stepping away from Kouga and towards Inuyasha's bright form.

"You're a strong woman, Kagome..."

Bridget tuned out her father's voice as Harry's silent figure knelt down in front of her, separating her from the rest of the group.

"Harry," she whispered. Her eyes watered anew as the only thing she wanted right now was to be in Harry's lap once more, teasing him with his half-hearted attempts to resist her.

"Bridget," Harry replied with soft eyes that she only had seen him look at her with a few times.

"I wish things could be different..." Bridget confessed brokenly, "I wish so bad that I was older or that Braeden never existed. I wish it wasn't up to my family to save the world!"

Her voice had risen and her body trembled with a detrimental mixture of rage and sorrow. She wanted to hate the world for what they forced him through. She wanted to hate herself for not being able to help. In the end, when it came down to it...she really was just a liability.

"Why, why couldn't it have been somebody else? You never deserved this! Any of this! You never—you were supposed to be my...we were—" she broke off with heaving sobs. She couldn't even express her feelings for him in her distress. She thought she felt something cold yet comforting wash over her head and she opened her eyes to see Harry's face inches from her own.

"You almost had me convinced, you know?" he said with a heartbreaking smile, "I could really see myself with you in the future."

Bridget sobbed and reached forwards with a small hand to brush his cheek. He was so close; she should have been able to feel the soft skin of his face once last time. But her fingers passing through air brought forth a new wave of fresh tears. Ghost-Harry leaned forwards and her weary eye-lids fluttered shut. Amazingly she was able to feel a cool pair of lips meet her forehead. She gasped and opened her eyes.

She saw nobody. Just the huddled, sobbing remnants of her family illuminated by the harsh light of the colossal glowing grounds. Numbly, she reached a hand up and swept her fingers across the spot where Harry kissed her.

The light of the dome gave a sudden flash, blinding them so harshly it hurt, before evaporating and leaving black spots in their vision. There was nothing left of the last spell—no bodies, no blood or relics or ashes.

There were just broken houses, and broken hearts.

0o0o0o0o0o

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0o0o0o0o0o

So sad, too bad.

My longest chapter yet :D

Yeah, I made Kagome pretty kick-ass in this one.

Wait for the epilogue bitches!

And Review.


	23. Epilogue 1

**Epilogue 1**

At first there was nothing. No darkness, no light. There was nothing to be felt, nothing to be seen, and nothing to be heard. There was no wakefulness, yet there was consciousness.

And then air came rushing into his lungs; warm and cool air blissfully filling the greedy organs. It was a wonderful and dynamic sensation.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in—wait...he was breathing?

With that sudden realization a world of pure white came into focus and Shae was shocked to find that his eyes were already open and he was standing on his feet. His hands flew to his chest and he noted with no small amount of shock that his left arm was whole and mobile again. In fact, his entire body looked completely unharmed. There was no blood and no wounds. His clothes were intact. There were no signs that he was ever in a battle.

Still feeling dazed from finding himself alive and well, Shae took in his surroundings—or lack there of. Everything was white...even though there was nothing. Blank pallor went on for miles and miles in all directions and there was something cannily familiar about it all.

_'Am I...dead?'_

He had to be. He couldn't feel any pain, and he knew for a fact that his previous condition was un-survivable. If that was even a word.

"What the—?" the words unwittingly slipped from his mouth as he glared suspiciously at the door that he was sure was not there a moment before. After all, it would have been hard to miss a large iron door rivaling the size of the gates of hell.

His feet moved by their own accord and he slowly pushed the heavy entrance open with a ticking creak. He stuck his head in and was met with a room of an equally monochrome setting. Standing right before him in a line were five white-robed beings.

"Enter Shae," the tall middle one commanded with a deep, authoritative voice. Shae didn't even think of disobeying.

"You're the...Powers that Be..." he said in awe, stepping forwards.

"We have called you here for your final judgment." stated the female.

Shae's shoulders sank, "So I'm really dead, huh?"

"You are and you are not," the one on the right replied, "you are at a passing in between the worlds of life and death."

Shae had no idea what the man was talking about. His mind had drifted to the memory of the grief-stricken faces of Kagome, Bridget, and Alaina. He frowned. Why did he remember them mourning him?

"Why...the last thing I remember was dieing from the spiritual arrow. How is it that I—HOLY SHIT! IS BREADEN DEAD?" Shae screamed, just realizing that he never actually saw the entire soul blackened. It would be just his luck that Braeden got away again—

—fuck, he just swore at the PTB.

"Uh..."

"You managed to successfully destroy the being call Braeden. You need not be bothered on that issue." The short one replied kindly and Shae got the impression that he may have been smiling beyond the hood.

"And for your earlier uncertainties," the far left began, "When your body expired, the lingering imprints of Inuyasha and young Harry's souls were released. Their brief interactions with the other individuals present are what you were recalling."

"Oh..." Shae said quietly, "So...what's my judgment anyway?"

"We," said the tallest, "would like to apologize."

_What?_

"A-apologize? For what?"

"For the burden you had to bear. We are aware the lives of your hosts were not...the easiest."

Shae tried to hold in a derisive snort.

"Harry, Inuyasha and yourself have dedicated the entirety of your existences to keeping the balance of light and darkness and tirelessly worked to bring peace to our disorderly world."

"Where are you going with this?" he asked suspiciously.

"For your services to humanity and contributions to our celestial society...we will grant you a gift."

Now Shae was really confused. His head began to feel heavy.

"A gift? Like a present or something?"

"It is a bit more that that," the female one stated gladly. "Think of it as...a second chance."

Shae felt his heart quicken with anticipation.

"Are you going to separate me again?" he asked eagerly with open hope. Yes, it would mean his 'death' but if he could bring happiness back to the people he grew to love... "Will I be Inuyasha and Harry again?"

He began feel dizzy and decided he should calm down. He was probably still worn out from the fight even if his injuries had inexplicably disappeared. He swayed a bit on his feet as white started to creep into his vision, narrowing his perception. He could make out the center figure shaking his hooded head slowly.

"No." The tone was benevolent...amused, almost.

He opened his mouth and tried to say something to them, to shout, but there was no sound. He felt weightless...was he falling backwards? He wanted to move his head...to move his eyes...but he couldn't. He was trapped. The whiteness was growing; blinding him. He had no voice. He had no body. There was nothing left.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

"...Inuyasha...Inuyasha..."

He knew that voice...so familiar...

He could feel grass beneath his back, and heavy clothing. There were cool hands brushing against his forehead, treading through his hair.

"Inuyasha, can you hear me?"

"Wha..." he groaned and tried to open his eyes. The sun hovering directly overhead glared through the crack in his lids and he was forced to shut his eyes once more from the pain in his head. He only caught a glimpse of a black haired woman leaning over him.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, now facing away from the sun, and opened his eyes fully, blinking away fuzziness in his vision. He could see his red clothed lap and some black hair spilling over his shoulder. Why did he feel so...weak? Weak but satisfied. A soft, warm palm was pressed against his cheek and he raised his violet eyes to see a beautiful woman smiling brilliantly at him.

"K-Kikyo!" he gasped. He couldn't understand why he was surprised to see her. What was going on?

"It worked," she said in a choked whisper. Her brown eyes were slightly watery with unbridled emotion that was so foreign to her, but so sought after. "It worked. You're human. And I am just a simple woman. Oh Inuyasha, it worked! We can finally be together!"

In an uncharacteristic display of unrestraint she threw herself on him in a hug, nearly throwing him back onto the ground. His arms wrapped unthinkingly around her frame and his face lit up.

Now he remembered. The jewel...the wish...he was _mortal_. He looked down at the woman in his arms and smiled lovingly. He would be accepted now and live his life out in the small village with the woman he loved. He would undergo the pains and torments of the life of a hanyou no more. There was only happiness in his future.

"Let's go back to the village," she said with enthusiasm that made her seem years younger. Her eyes were burning with so many emotions she wasn't allowed to feel before. "We'll inform them of our marriage—"

Unable to resist, Inuyasha had cut her off with a chaste kiss that quickly progressed at the hand of the miko.

Unbeknownst to the happy couple celebrating their radically changed lives, two figures witnessed the events unfold from the shadows of the forest.

"My lord!" the short, huffy green toad exclaimed in a harsh whisper, "Can you believe what your foolish brother has done to himself? Turning himself mortal and throwing away the noble blood of your father. It is a disgrace to your father's name! Ahhmmph!"

The short demon was shoved face first into the dirt as a silken shoe stepped on the back of his head without care. The foot belonged to a tall and regal demon with long silver hair and a magenta crescent moon on his forehead.

"I care not for what the worthless fool does to himself. Mortality will kill him in a few decades. His actions are not my concern."

The demon glided back into the recess of the deep forest.

"Come Jaken, we will continue our search for the Tetsuiga."

The toad demon pulled himself out of the hole in the ground that the larger demon pressed him into, dirt falling from his face. He looked behind him to see that his master was nowhere in sight. He scampered in the direction of the dog's scent nearly in tears.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Wait for me!"

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

"Ahh! Oh no, I'm going to be late!" 14 year old Kagome Higurashi cried hopping on one foot as she tried to shove her last shoe on with her backpack hanging off one shoulder and a piece of toast dangling from her mouth by its crust.

"It's your first day of high school and you sleep in. Why am I not surprised?" her younger brother said condescendingly. He was seated at the breakfast table and already dressed and ready for the day.

"Shut up you little brat!" Luckily her mother wasn't in the room to hear her.

"Here, take some waxed sow ears," her grandfather demanded, shoving the shiny pink things into her hand, "Having them in your presence at all times will help you think quicker and bring you fortune on Tuesdays."

"Uh...thanks gramps." Kagome said, not bothering to hide that she just handed it off to her cat and ran out the door. He could hear the respective comments from her brother and grandfather as she raced towards the long flight of steps exiting the shrine.

"Where did we go wrong with her?"

"Ah! My sow ear! Darn cat!"

It took the young woman eight minutes to reach the school from running at breakneck speed. Well, it seemed fast to her as she wasn't the most athletic of girls. When she arrived at the large building she was pleased to see many students milling around and that the first bell had not rung yet.

"Kagome!" three voices from behind her chorused and she turned to see her friends.

"Ayumi, Eri, Yuka. Hi."

"We saw you run past us on the street," Eri said, "We called out to you to walk with us, but you just kept on running."

"Yeah, what was the hurry?" Yuka asked. Kagome's face grew very red.

"Uh..." she was saved from answering by the chiming of a bell.

"Hey Kagome," a kind faced boy said cheerfully as he pulled up next to her on his bike. All three of her friends took a step back in wonder.

"Oh hey Hojo," she said uneasily. She had only heard his name from other girls, having never actually met him before. She couldn't understand for the life of her why he was talking to her.

"I heard your birthday's coming up. I know it's a bit early, but here," he said confidently as he thrust a small purpled bag in her hands. Completely taken aback, Kagome could only fumble with the tissue inside before pulling out a pair of round and flat tan stones that fit in the palm of her hand.

"They're rare earth magnets from my family's shop. They're supposed to be good for relieving swelling and increase your blood flow."

"Oh, um, th-thanks!" She replied unsurely, the corner of her mouth twitching.

_'What the hell will I ever need these for? I hardly ever get hurt!'_

"You're welcome Kagome! See you later!" Hojo said with a charming grin. He took off on his bike down the path of the school. Kagome stared after him.

"Well that was...weird..."

The three other girls, appearing from nowhere, pounced on her.

"Oh my gawd, Kagome! That was the most popular guy in school! And he was talking to you!" Yuka squealed wildly.

"Eh? Really?" She asked rubbing her now perforated eardrum. She blinked a couple times in the direction the boy disappeared in with a flattered blush budding on her cheeks.

"Is he your boyfriend? Why didn't you tell us?" Ayumi pouted, crossing her arms.

"No, I don't even know the guy—" Kagome began before she was interrupted by Eri.

"No, no, he's going out with Sachi, remember?"

"Sachi?" Kagome was very lost now.

"That girl right there," Yuka said cheerfully as she pointed to an older girl leaning against the school wall. Her skirt was rolled up so it was shorter than the school standard and her dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, "and she's the really possessive, jealous type too."

"And popular," Ayumi added.

"You don't want to mess with her, Kagome." Eri advised.

"I don't want to mess with anybody!" she exclaimed but her friends weren't listening to her, too absorbed with their own frivolous gossiping.

"Man, Sachi must have seen you talk to Hojo. She's giving you a real nasty look." Ayumi said cheerfully.

Kagome saw that it was true; the older girl was giving her a dark glare from across the courtyard, sending chills down her spine.

"Oh man," She moaned. She hadn't even entered the building and there was already drama in her young teenage life. How typical.

0o0o0o

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0o0o0o

A loud whistling washed over the hundreds of voices bustling around platform nine and three quarters. A man dressed in navy robes leaned out the window of the fire-engine red train and pulled a dangling handle a few more times, causing steam to shoot from the top of the engine.

It was 10:55 am.

Many adults dressed in both robes and muggle clothing began to quickly usher their children on bored, interrupted only by hugs and a few teary goodbyes. Near one end of the train was a sea of freckled redheads. The plump woman among them was fiercely blinking her eyes to keep from crying as her youngest child and only daughter finally left the nest for her first year at Hogwarts.

"Now Ginny, I want you to write as soon as you get there and tell me what house you make it in, alright dear?"

She nodded hesitantly, eyeing all the other students who she would be living in the castle with this year.

"She's going to be in Gryffindor of course," her older brother Ron said, exiting the carriage that he just put their luggage in.

"Ronald, it doesn't matter what house she's in. We will be proud of her with whatever she gets. You best watch over her, you hear me young man?"

"Mum, mum—look! It's Harry Potter!" Ginny said, tugging on her mother's slightly patched robes and pointing to a thin, messy haired young boy near the other end of the draining platform.

Ron scowled with the tips of his ears going a bit red, "So what? There's nothing special about him. Bloody Slytherin..."

Molly whacked his arm for that.

"Don't you dare use that language young man! Especially in front of your sister. Now off with the both of you, the train will be leaving any minute now. Oh where are Fred and George? I hope they haven't stuck Percy's luggage to the underside of the train this year..."

"He's the youngest seeker in a century. You're just jealous," the youngest Weasley sniffed at her jealous brother before brushing past him and boarding the train. Scowling, he made to follow her, but just as he stepped into his carriage he felt someone crash into his frame and his vision was filled with brown.

"Ronald," the young woman said politely as she patted down her frizzy hair to no effect.

Ron made a show of spitting out imaginary hairs from his mouth before saying a simple, "Hermione."

The two maneuvered around each other somewhat awkwardly and continued on their individual ways. For some reason or another, being in the mere presence of each other brought forth a strange aggravation that their twelve year old minds couldn't quite comprehend yet, and wouldn't for many years to come. For now it only served to fuel the most bizarre of fights.

"Come on Harry, get on the train. You're probably the only one not on!"

An attractive, ruby haired woman stood next to her husband—a tall man with messy black hair and glasses.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going..." a twelve year-old clone of the man muttered wanting to find his friends. James Potter grinned at the attitude and threw and arm around the boy in a bear hug.

"Behave yourself," he grinned, ruffling the boy's hair and winking—showing that he didn't mean what he said in the slightest. His wife caught the gesture and pulled Harry from her husband, shooting the man a dirty look.

"I better not get anymore letters about you shaving Mrs. Norris or spiking the Hufflepuff drinks this year..." she warned before planting a kiss on his cheek. Harry pulled himself from his mother's arms and openly wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"Yes, mum..."

"And be nice to that Weasley boy."

Harry gaped at her indignantly.

"It's not my fault he keeps trying to pick fights! I'm the victim here!"

James laughed.

"That's my boy. Denial is the best defense!"

"Dad it's true..."

The whistle blew for the last time.

"Bye, bye Harry!" His eight year-old sister said as she stuck close to her mother's side. She had her father's black hair and hazel eyes, but the face was wholly her mother's.

"Bye Maddie! Bye mum and dad. See you at Christmas!" he called out the window as the train started to slowly move forwards. He proceeded to walk down the thin hallway, dragging his luggage behind him, looking for a compartment with some space and some friends. It wasn't long before he found one with only another boy and a girl, both of whom he knew well.

"Hey Draco, Pansy." He said cheerfully as he heaved his suitcase in one of the compartments overhead.

"Hello Harry," the brunette with an upturned nose drawled without bothering to look at him. She continued to flip through an unknown textbook on her lap.

"Potter," the other young aristocrat acknowledged stiffly with a nod of his head, "How was your summer?"

Harry snorted at the boy's stuffy attitude and refined posture.

"Slouch a bit more would you? Your dad's not around now. Don't tell me I have to beat the insufferable manners out of you again this year? All that hard work undone in one summer...such a shame."

The blond tried to glare at him but it was hard when the wild young boy was grinning so stupidly and offering him a half-melted chocolate frog from his pocket. Pansy was eyeing the sticky treat as if it was a bug that needed to be quickly squashed and wrinkled her already short nose. Much to her horror her childhood friend actually took

Harry gave a triumphant whoop when the Malfoy slowly accepted his offering. Many people said he didn't belong in Slytherin; that he would have made a much better Gryffindor. They said Slytherins were mean and under-handing, that they were just a bunch of pure-blood stuck up bastards who didn't care about anything but their own success. And he had learned this to be very true. But he also realized that there was more to them, just as there is more to any human being, and he made it his mission to get those sticks out of their asses and bring out the personalities a life of the upper crust had hidden. There was no way in hell he was going to spend his entire Hogwarts career with a bunch of pricks if he had anything to say about it.

Besides, he had to break them in for his sister.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Woooo0000oooot.

This was what I had originally planned to end the series with; the PTB sending them back to a world where Naraku and Voldemort never existed.

However, since I love my fans so very much, I wrote an alternate ending that I will post in a couple days. There is also a reason for this alternate ending that I will explain more about when I post it.

Thank you all so much for the support and reviews you have given me! I luuuuurve you all!


	24. Epilogue 2the real one

**Epilogue 2**

Kagome wasn't aware that she was kneeling in the snow until she felt a strong, clawed hand wrap around her arm and gently pull her to her feet. She was shaking and it had nothing to do with the cold. The man she loves, a love that was able to exceed time itself, was just taken from her. And she could only stand and watch. Like always.

Swallowing, she managed to briefly compose herself to find the state of the other two girls not so different from herself. Alaina had her arms wrapped around her, tears silently streaming down the sides of her face as she stared blankly where her father once stood. Bridget was a few feet away from the rest of them with one hand pressed to her forehead as she openly cried. Kagome might have found this a bit strange and vaguely remembered Harry's spirit talking to her privately.

Pushing aside her own pain for just a moment, Kagome approached the newly orphaned girl. The priestess found that Bridget may have suffered the greatest lost out of all of them. Not only did she loose both her mother and father in the same day, but also the man _she_ loved. Bridget's steady weeping was broken up by a hiccup when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her tenderly. Recognizing the scent as Kagome's, Bridget buried her face into the bosom of the woman's sweater and let her sorrow control her once more as wave after wave of tears erupted from her eyes. Kagome beckoned Alaina over with a wave of her hand and the blonde soon joined the group hug. Gradually, the burden of their grief weighed down on their shoulders and they sank to the ground, never letting go of each other.

Kouga stepped back and let the girls comfort each other. Sadness reflected deeply in his cerulean eyes. He was well aware of the sacrifices that have to be made in war. But knowing never makes it any easier. He wanted desperately to return to his wife and tell her and his family the news; both good and bad. But he didn't want to leave the girls in their current state.

It was a sad sight they made; three sobbing women huddled together in the wet March snow and a wolf demon sympathetically watching over them. The wind softly tugged at their clothing and ran over the remains of the houses on the streets. There was no one around to witness this; the people of the neighborhood had fled weeks ago. No one was there to comfort them or tell them everything was going to be alright now...

"Stupid girls. They're always damn crying..."

The three bodies on the ground tensed; even their tears seemed to freeze on their path down the mottled cheeks. They _knew_ that voice.

"Tell me about it. I'm half a millennium old and I still don't get it."

Kouga turned around first—slowly, feeling fearful and hopeful of what he might see.

Sure enough, Harry and Inuyasha were standing side by side a few yards behind them. But this time they were solid. They were solid and colorful and smiling like the pair of idiots that they were.

The girls scrambled to their feet, but none approached them. Was this a trick? Another illusion? They looked so real, they smelled so real, but not everything has a happy ending. There had to be a catch.

"Inuyasha? Harry?" Kouga asked, taking a step towards them. Bridget looked like she wanted to follow but Alaina held her back. They couldn't take any chances.

"Sadly, yes." Harry said with mock pity. Inuyasha grinned widely and threw and arm around the younger man in a one armed hug, drawing the sides of their faces close.

"Come on! Who else could pull off these devilishly good looks?"

"But how? I don't understand, you said that you were dead before..." Alaina whispered. It was illogical, but she was afraid that if she spoke too loud the image of her father and Harry would shatter, leaving her alone again. The two saviors looked amusedly at each other, as if trying to sort out who would start first.

"Well the PTB called us up there and started going on somthing about how they made our lives a living hell..." Harry began airily.

"...sorry for leaving the fate of the world on your shoulders..." Inuyasha added.

"...we'll make it up to you by giving you back your lives..."

"...behave yourselves..."

"...no, you cannot borrow our robes..."

"Yup," Inuyasha finished while sharing another entertained look with Harry, "that pretty much sums it up."

The others were now having a very hard time finding a reason to deny it was them with that last display of folly.

"How do we know you're really you though?" Kagome asked daring to get her hopes us. "It seems too good to be true."

Kouga seemed to have made up his mind at that time and walked close to Harry. He poked him in the cheek.

"What the hell!" The teen yelled and swatted the offending appendage away from his face.

"Yep, it's Harry alright." The wolf concluded from his little test. He then looked to Inuyasha, who stared right back at him, blinking a few times.

"I'm an exhibitionist," Inuyasha stated brightly.

"You are not—!"

"Dad!" Alaina and Bridget shot forward and tackled the man backwards. Inuyasha laughed merrily and hugged both his daughters, managing to lift them around the waists with one arm each and spin them around a couple times. He didn't fail to notice that both girls were crying yet again.

"Hey, hey, what's with all the crying? I'm here now, aren't I?" He asked teasingly with a crooked smiled.

"Shut up!" Bridget half-laughed, half-sobbed while lightly slapping his stomach, "You keep disappearing or dying."

"Yeah," Alaina agreed hugging herself closer to him, "Stop doing that."

Kagome watched this while waiting patiently for her turn—Kouga could see her hands twitching by her sides—or not so patiently.

The second Inuyasha release his youngest children from his grasp Kagome was upon him like a torpedo from hell with her legs around his waist and hurried kissing.

"Don't ever, _ever_ die again," Kagome mumbled between the kisses. More tears were building up behind her clenched eyelids and she couldn't tell if they were from her elation now or her earlier depression.

While she had missed her father terribly Alaina was forced to turn away from their affectionate reunion. She was happy for them of course, but she did **not** want to see her father kissing anybody. It was just...awkward. Bridget, on the other hand, wasted no time in rushing over to the other one.

"Oof," Harry grunted as he felt her impact with his stomach. Contrary to his usual reaction to her hugs, he enveloped her into his arms and held her tight as she cried some more into his t-shirt. He sighed, realizing his earlier confession would make fending her off for the next few years even more difficult.

Kouga watched everything with an uncontainable grin stretched across his face. While he hated to interrupt the happy reunion, he really did need to get back to Ayame.

"Hey, dog-turd! Wanna get me back to _my_ woman?"

Inuyasha pulled his mouth away from Kagome to glance at Kouga. If he recalled the man did protect his daughters and Kagome at the expense of his own life.

"Sure." He replied easily while looking around to find something to change into a portkey. He suddenly froze as he finally got a good chance to look around the situation.

"Aw shit, my house!"

0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o

A few days and _a lot_ of magic later and the Nagasaki house was up and running once more. The rest of the world was slowly following the pace. There was a political war brewing between countries, muggles and wizards, the church and the government...basically everyone and everything was at odds. But even through the controversy of the wizarding world being exposed, the threat of humankind had brought the race together in a way that rivaled nationality. The big picture was painted before them and the petty arguments of race and religion diminished considerably. People of every kind were willing to start over for a better and stronger world.

"Hey! The electricity's working again! All over the world! The news says so!" Bridget yelled excitedly while running from room to room. The youngster had been more hyper than ever since mankind was saved and became very excitable with every small development people made with returning order to world.

"Ugg…well the ministry wasted no time in fixing the education system," Alaina said disdainfully as she reviewed the scroll that was sent with the daily post. She and Harry were both seated at the kitchen table finishing the last of their breakfasts and ignoring the crazed ten year old screaming from the next room.

"They aren't making you repeat seventh year, are they?" Harry asked interested.

"No, no, they've set up a small make-up course and then a final exam for us to graduate. 'Should take about two months. Then I can move to Boston and go on and be a reporter for the Bewitched Kibitz!"

The Bewitched Kibitz was frighteningly similar to the Daily Prophet in both material and reliability. Harry couldn't stop his eye from twitching.

_'ReporterSkeeterhate'_

"Good morning," the two teenagers looked up to see Kagome walk into the kitchen all showered and dressed.

"She didn't wake you up, did she?" Alaina asked, referring to her younger sister who was currently shouting about rehabilitated banking.

"Oh no," Kagome said, waving off the idea. She began to prepare herself a cup of tea as her mind drifted to the previous night and a blush formed on her cheekbones. Her hand absently went up to rub the fresh pair of puncture wounds above her collar bone—the ones that marked her as Inuyasha's mate—and she smiled softly. He was hers now, and she was his. She was never going to let him go again. Never.

She felt a pair of familiar hands rub the sides of her hips before sliding around her middle and pulling her body flush against a hard chest. Inuyasha tilted forward a bit to rest his chin on her shoulder. Kagome smiled and took a sip of her tea, leaning back into his frame, enjoying the warmth he radiated.

"Kagome...do me a favor and wear less clothes."

The woman choked a bit on the liquid in her mouth and pulled away from the hanyou to shoot him a disbelieving look.

"What!"

Inuyasha chuckled, gently lifting the mug out of her hand and pecking her on the lips. He then took a sip of her morning beverage.

"Hey," she pouted cutely, "get your own."

"Dad!"

Bridget had kicked open the kitchen door with a bang and Inuyasha nearly dropped the mug.

"On the news a muggle senator and a member of the wizengamot got into a fight! A fist fight! It was crazy! And somewhere else a bunch of Satan worshipers from Greenland got together with some wizards and tried to create a strained opening to hell...but it backfired and they got blown up!"

"Whaa...?" Inuyasha could only blink at the maddening pace at which his daughter was speaking.

"She's been like that all morning," Alaina stated with indifference. Harry was nodding gravely next to her.

"Yeah. Get her away from the telly, please."

"Biddy, go play in the snow." He ordered. The girl looked quite affronted at that but went to find her snow boots anyway. Inuyasha walked into the living room and began flicking through the different channels.

"Shit. Those demons did more destruction than I thought. Half the world seems to be in ruins." He muttered. Harry followed him in shortly, surveying the varying scenes of destruction that passed by on the television.

"So what's going to happen now?" he asked, feeling like the war was starting all over again, "The wizards have been exposed to muggles. Demons and the existence of Hell have been confirmed. Things are such a mess I don't know where to even start."

Inuyasha replied with a sentence that Harry waited nineteen years to hear.

"You know what? That's someone else's problem."

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

**Five Years Later...**

"I'm hoooome loving family!"

A pretty young woman with layered, shoulder-length, platinum hair parted to the side by a jade clip and dressed in garnish ultramarine robes entered the ostensibly empty house. She took in the quiet room with sharp amber eyes. Sulking in disappointment, she dropped the two heavy bags by her sides.

"Where the hell is everyone?" she wondered. Just as she spoke a man in similar age to her walked into the same room from another door. He seemed to be a bit preoccupied with what looked like reports and didn't notice her immediately.

"Woah!" he exclaimed upon finally seeing her, nearly dropping the stack of papers in his hands.

Alaina stared for a moment at the black-haired man.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" she asked after getting over her shock. There was a grin on her face as she walked forwards, her Merri heels clicking against the hardwood floor, and dragged him into a friendly hug, "I haven't seen you in months!"

"I could say the same for you," he grinned, pulling away from her to look her over. "You look great. How's work been?"

"Awesome!" she replied, noting that he hadn't aged at all since she last saw him. Then again, he was still a guardian, "I've recently been promoted to investigative reporter."

"Really? Congratulations! Is that why you're home?"

"Yeah, dad invited me for a celebratory dinner. But what about you? I haven't seen much of you since you moved out."

"Hey," he said huffily, "that's not my fault; I drop in all the time. You're the one who's never around."

"Yeah I suppose," she said, shrugging him off. She looked at the papers in his hands.

"What're those?"

Harry blinked and stared at the documents.

"Oh...er...just some reports about clients and what not. I've been falling behind." He said sheepishly while running a hand through dark, wild hair. Alaina rolled her eyes at him.

"You are so irresponsible. Where's dad?"

"Upstairs with Kagome and Cal," he said pointing to the ceiling.

"And where's my darling sister?" She asked in a falsely sweet voice. It was no secret that the two easily got into petty fights more and more often and while Harry was concerned about their relationship in the long run, Inuyasha stated that they were just at a hostile age...or rather Bridget was. From what he last heard they were currently in an argument about someone's stolen shoes or something of that matter.

"Right here, bitch."

Harry and Alaina turned to see the sassy teenager that was Bridget. She had thick black hair falling around her shoulders in pretty curls and fierce golden eyes. Her body was gradually beginning to fill out; soft curves were noticeable even through the simple t-shirt and jeans she wore. She wasn't petit like her older sister and it was obvious that she would soon be taller than the blonde.

"Harry, I thought you were going to take me with you to drop those in at the office?" She was, of course, referring to the newly instated Office of Demonic Liaison and Control Unit that every magical and muggle government had invested in. Demon hunting had become a revered occupation, but the best of the best were still the originals and it was rare for them to find an apprentice that they found worthy of training. Harry was among one of the most renowned and sought after huntsman, which he liked to blame on the advertising from the war.

"Yeah, I'm going right now. I just wanted to talk to your sister."

If possible, Bridget glowered even more at Alaina.

"You trying to steal my man as well as my jewelry?"

"I haven't the faintest of what you're talking about," Alaina stated disdainfully. She turned away from the fuming girl and placed her lime green, moke purse on the table by her hip. Harry closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the wall. He knew better than anyone how bitchy the Nagasaki sisters could get when in conflict.

"You know damn well you stole my fire-crab necklace!" Bridget yelled loosing all previous composure. The necklace was something her father had bought for her mother years ago. It was very expensive since it had the rubies of a fire crab imbedded in the onyx plating. Her mother had last lent it to her before she died and it was one of her most coveted treasures.

Alaina turned to face her sister.

"How can I steal it when it didn't rightfully belong to you in the first place?"

"Ha!" Bridget cried triumphantly, pointing her finger at the spot between Alaina's eyes, "You admit it! Give it back damnit!"

Alaina slapped the hand away from her face, "Will you knock it off? You're being so unreasonable!"

"ME? You knew I wanted to wear it too the Winter Warmer! You vicious, spiteful bitch! Just because you never got to go—"

"That's because it was cancelled because of the war, 'A'! And 'B', it's supposed to be for seventh years only!"

"You're just jealous because you weren't as pretty as me to be invited by upperclassman."

"Don't make me laugh! I just didn't have a reputation like yours!"

"Oh! A reputation huh? What reputation is that?"

"A slut, that's what!"

"You damn hypocrite. Where do _you_, of all people, get off calling _me_ a slut? And I'll have you know Harry's the only guy—"

"Oh yeah? Then who's the guy you're going with?"

"Just a friend! I have those, you know!"

"Yeah I know all about those kinds of 'friends'."

"Why you—! Don't go making shit up like that!"

Harry pushed himself away from the wall, having had enough of the pointless bickering, and stepped in between the quarreling sisters—not an easy task when they were practically nose to nose shouting at one another.

"Let it go Biddy," Harry said softly while trying to pull the heated girl away. "We'll go out to lunch while we're out, okay?"

"No! I will not let it go!" she shouted vehemently, hell bent on winning this argument. How dare her sister try to sabotage her image in front of Harry! It was bad enough she didn't get to see him all that often now that he lived in his own apartment.

"Come on," He urged, grabbing her trembling hand with his own, "it'll be a date."

Bridget would have liked to have continued the row but her interest was solely focused on the warm hand grasping her own and the word 'date' echoing in her mind. Lately Harry had been giving her more and more of the kind of attention she had been seeking as a child. She could never bring herself to complain when that happened. She shot a look over at her sister that clearly stated it wasn't over before loosing herself in her own little world of Harry-happiness as he led her out the door.

Alaina when as the door closed behind them and relaxed her stance. She was twenty-two years old, a grown adult now, but her sister was still able to bring out the child in her. Reaching into her purse she pulled out the subject of their argument—the glimmering ruby necklace of their mom.

At first she was upset that Bridget had been holing it away; she felt it was unfair that the younger should receive such an heirloom from their late mother, especially when it was self-proclaimed by the young girl herself. But she soon came to realize that Bridget wanted it for more reasons than just its beauty. It was one of the last things her mother had ever given to the girl. Alaina hadn't gotten on well with their mother since before the divorce, but Bridget was too young at the time to understand or feel any resentment about the trial and continued to treasure her mother as a child should, up until the lovely woman's untimely death. Alaina understood now that this necklace was one of the only pieces of Mona Crawford-Nagasaki that Bridget had left to cling on to.

Grinning at the nature of her sister, Alaina delicately carried the neckwear up to Bridget's bedroom and laid it across the surface her vanity.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

Just a few years from being thirty and Kagome still had the attractive look of someone in their early twenties. She had continued to let her hair grow until it reached her lower back, which was currently done up messily in a half ponytail. At the moment she was bouncing an infant on her hip as she tried to put on a pair of dangling indigo earrings that accented her eyes. The young boy at her side had a head of soft black hair and his mother's smoky blue eyes. Amazingly enough he managed to inherit the adorable dog-ears that Kagome and her mother loved so much. Of course, if she recalled it was quite a shock to the doctors at the time. One of the good things about the near destruction of mankind was that it opened the minds of the general populace. Hanyous and demons weren't walking around publicly yet, but the slow rise to agglutination was underway. The governments had come to label the times as the Reinstated Era since the start of the millennium. Sighing in frustration, she looked to her companion.

"Hunny, can you hold Caleb for a minute?" she asked, handing her 14 month child over to her husband and mate. Within the year Inuyasha took her as her mate they were also married. Mostly at her mother's insistence, but she had wanted a wedding as well. It took place back at the Higurashi shrine and many of her old friends were present...along with many people she didn't know. In fact, she was a bit of a celebrity back at home after she was seen fighting Braeden on the news all those years ago. But fame was not for her so she was perfectly fine returning to Salem with her husband and child as Kagome Nagasaki.

"What the—?"

Finished applying her jewelry to her ears, she turned to see Inuyasha staring out the window that overlooked the driveway with narrowed eyes. Stepping up next to him she followed his gaze to Harry and Bridget exiting the house, particularly at their clasped hands. Kagome caught the look he was giving them and couldn't help but shake her head.

"He's not going to spontaneously combust if you keep glaring at him." She said.

"She's only fifteen," he droned tiredly as if he already knew there was nothing he could do but complain.

"Oh yeah? Remember when I was fifteen...?" she asked impertinently, taking Caleb off his hands. The boy giggled at his mother, his ebony ears still dropping as he had yet to develop much mobility with them.

"But I wasn't twenty four!" he argued.

"Oh come on, now you're being ridiculous. Harry doesn't look a day older than twenty and won't for some time. Besides, you wouldn't want her with anyone else now would you?"

Inuyasha pouted, folded his arms across his chest and looked away. Kagome thought he looked just like he did when he was a grumpy half-demon back when she first met him.

"I'd rather she was a lesbian."

Kagome kicked his ankle.

"Lord knows why I put up with you."

"Good sex?" he asked impishly.

She sent him a dry look.

"Great sex." he concluded. Kagome shook her head sadly at him and gave him a soft kiss on the nose.

"Come on," she commanded as she descended down the stairs, "You have a successful daughter waiting for you."

Inuyasha followed behind her, grinning at the way her hips shifted with each downward step. In all honesty he was happy for Bridget. As her father he could see the chemistry between the two before Harry was even aware of it, which is why he wasn't so concerned of her behavior back when she first met the wizard. But, also as her father, it was up to him to uphold certain pretenses; particularly that of the over-protective dad.

After all, he was never one to pass up an opportunity to make Harry Potter sweat a little.

0o0o0o0o

* * *

0o0o0o0o

THE END!

The real end ok? You needy bitches...

Haha, you all reacted like you got slapped in the face with the first ending. It's cool; I expected that which is why I wrote this. I am one smart cookie.

I'm tired and I need a break from writing. So this ends the RTR—Demon Hunter—Millennium trilogy. I'm really glad you guys stuck with me through all of this, looking back to the first chapters of Demon Hunter I realize my writing style had quite a bit to be desired and I hope I honed my skills over the series.

However...there have been many, many requests to continue with this story line in a new story. I write for my readers as much as, if not more than, myself so I thought it over. And I have a good idea of how to continue this. That's why I chose to end things like this.

My interest in Naruto pawns whatever interests I had in Inuyasha (don't get me wrong, I still love that woof-woof) so when I do begin writing again, and that won't be for a while so don't hold your breaths, I recommend looking under the Naruto section.

I know what you're thinking..."Wtf? An Hp/inu/Naruto xover? Is she on crack?"

Well you know what, Inuyasha + Harry Potter + Naruto love.

I can do it, you know I can. ;D


	25. AN

This is for the people who asked me to post a little notice so that they'd know when the sequel was up.

...the sequel is up.

It's called **Troika Parallel** and it has Naruto (squeeee blonds!) So give it a shot, tell me what you think, all that jazz. :)


End file.
